The Catalyst
by ALaCarte
Summary: A story about the LABB Murder Cases, with a certain something to mix things up a bit. Quite possibly OCXBB or OCXL. ***FRAGARIA IS THE SEQUEL.
1. Chapter 1

The Catalyst: Chapter One

"And what did you do today, Mrs. Steele?" The girl's head remained focused on the tile flooring despite the man's words. "Mrs. Steele?" the man repeated, and her head came up sharply "I heard you, you know, I was just thinking. When is it a crime to consider your answer before replying to a question? Its simply ridiculous that you would conceive me to be consta—" "_your day_, Steele, tell me about _your day_" he stated and she sighed lightly, without inflection. "Once again, the name is Robin. I distinctly remember telling you this before—and you know I'm only putting up with this to appease the court systems. Besides, this is our last session after all. I'm finally getting rid of you" she finished with a shallow smile, which to her was a grin.

He laughed, his glasses gleaming in the fluorescents "ah ah ah, you must remain with my weekly sessions for another 6 months, you know that" despite his words, Robin's silent smile remained constant. "But, I will be leaving today. Out of the country, on a pre-approved trip; I have the clearance. Sorry to disappoint, Doc" it was his turn to grin now, making hers disappear as he lightly shook his head. "Oh, I know Steele. I _am_ coming with you after all. Your office secretary notified me. We still have 4 months left of treatment, so someone _will _inform me where you are off to. Cognitive behavioral therapy is a complicated process, you understand" "Yes, a 62% probable failing rate, which is only if the methods are applied properly. Thus judging by your expertise I will fail, then have to make another re-appearance at court under—" "that was rude. What do you say after doing a rude thing?" he interrupted, talking to her like a child.

"You yourself know I am a leading figure in the professional psychological community. 97% higher success rate than you, it is not rude to say the facts" she stated monotonically, giving him a steely eye. "Not all psychologists have a mental disorder of their own, certainly nothing as severe as asperser's syndrome" the man retorted and Robin stood, gathering her purse from the chair next to her in front of his desk. "It is 13:00, I believe our session has ended for today" she turned and walked across the office, stopping at the door. "Also, asperser's syndrome does not affect intelligence. In fact, many experts agree it only heightens mental capacity—" "_Steele…_" he interrupted with a sigh, signaling with his exasperated voice that he knew his mistake. "I have another appointment" Robin stated quickly, continuing through the door despite his repeated calls.

The door shut quietly behind her and she continued down the carpeted hall. She tottered on her heels momentarily before she stopped at the elevator, straightening out the skirt to her suit. "One mistake then I'm assigned to that idiot. Mr. Fredrick, abnormal psychologist; what a joke…" she said out loud before falling silent as the elevator opened. She was slightly thankful no one was inside to hear her talking to herself, but then again if there was she probably wouldn't have cared. "Now it's off for the lunch meeting before I catch the plane…" she said aloud absent mindedly again, twirling her hair in her hand as she tottered on her heels again. The elevator opened and robin's head sprung up as she urged forward, immediately tripping and falling with a loud clap of body on tile floor.

Robin sat up with a groan, distantly hearing the sounds of feet hurrying towards her. She sat up slowly, holding her head and shoving down her skirt at the same time. "Need some help… Mrs. Steele?" and Robin looked up to see a rather old hand outstretched in her gaze. "Whammy?" Robin said, her eyebrows raising more out of habit than a real expression of surprise. "Yes, I wanted to pick you up for lunch. I knew you had a… standing appointment here" Robin gave a courtesy smile as he helped her stand solidly on her feet. He gave an amused grin at her heels "It seems your treatment has been going well, I'm surprised to see you challenging yourself with high heels" she nodded matter-of-factly. "It is the most professional attire, even though it increases my chances of clumsiness. You probably would not be surprised how many people don't take an 18 year old psychologist wearing sneakers seriously" she finished almost businesslike.

Whammy smiled warmly at her "let us get to the car, hmm? I left it running on the curb" the old man said with a gesture towards the big glass doors of the building. "Ah, but I believe I have a previous engagement with a client, I am to fly… somewhere to help them catch a serial killer" Reobin stated and whammy smiled. "But I am your client, I was told to keep the appointment low-key" Whammy said and robin tilted her head thoughtfully "so… _he_ wants to see me?" Whammy nodded and without further ado the two strolled out of the office building and slid into a sleek black car. "You don't have a driver yet, Whammy?" Robin stated, it was only with months of treatment and practices that she could she attain the right inflection in her voice to indicate a question. "I quite enjoy my drives" the old man said from behind the wheel, a smile in his voice. "I am interested why L called upon me like this, when I haven't been acknowledged in years since I left" she said, and the mood in the car turned reserved and silent.

"what help can I be to a murder case, anyhow?" robin said again, turning her head sharply as a speaker crackled to life "you know the answer to that, R, you've helped out many police investigations already" it was L; the real L's voice without any static jargon clouding it, save the hum of the electronic speaker. It was a voice she hadn't heard in years, and it made her feel more detached and lonely than in all her time spent away from the orphanage. "L, what a surprise" Robin said to the white laptop, although her voice reflected no emotion--as usual. "I have heard you've been doing well. Quite a successful career already…" She knew by the tone of his voice he was disappointed, not in her, but that she didn't stay at Whammy's—or that she didn't need help from Whammy's. "Yes, well, as successful as one can get in a few years I suppose…" she trailed off, getting more and more curious as to why L had called for her.

Called for her help, let alone called for her now… and not all those years ago when she had ran. Back then, his absent pursuit had cemented her thoughts that he didn't really care much for her. Truth be told, she did not think herself as one of L's few emotional attachments anyway… she didn't exactly think of him as a friend either. There were only two Whammy companions she had ever really cared about. L was an idol, a rival; where her two companions and friends had been A and—"It's B"

She stared at the screen displaying his emblem for a minute, as if asking him to repeat himself, before she realized the device had no camera to see her with. "Pardon?" she prompted quietly. "B is the one behind these murders, it's undeniable" L stated again and Robin shifted her stare to the window. They had fled Whammy's together, her and B, after A committed suicide. They had parted ways almost as soon as the boat arrived in America, with only the promise to meet again someday down the road.

Is this what B had meant; meet down the road… _during his murders_? It was obvious B was a disturbed kid. Most kids in Whammy's had their quirks, but this? Was it her fault somehow… that she had not seen it? She had been close to him, closer than her and A had been--even though they were roommates. She remembered thinking B was the only one in that place that had even begun to understand how her brain worked… she thought she knew him just as well…

_That was it._

_That's_ why she had been summoned by L. It wasn't her career, or her achievements, or any of her degrees. It was because she had known B the best, had even considered herself his friend. As if she could do what L wanted her to… after all this time, she could never anticipate B's actions now.

B had always said L was jealous, because he didn't have a best friend.

"So you want me to… create a psych profile of him? Analyze why he committed the murders? Guess what he will do next?" she asked brisker than normal. It was as if L was asking her to turn B in herself. Fix the mess she made, oh how all of this could have been avoided if she was just a little bit smarter—noticed the way B thought a long time ago. Maybe L was trying to get her to regret leaving Whammy's? Well she wouldn't, not ever. Even if she had helped B somehow commit his murders by escaping with him from Whammy's, she would never regret leaving the place where A had died. A and her were crammed into that room together… Robin had been the first to see A swinging from the ceiling.

"please stop the car, I want to get out" Robin stated, and whammy's surprised gasp came from the front at the same time L let out a firm "No" she stared at the screen once again, imagining staring coldly straight at the real L's face. "Did you not hear me? I won't work for you. You can't just kidnap me" Robin said, and she could even feel L's stubbornness rising to the surface. "Lock the doors" L's voice said crossly and Whammy quietly muttered an apology as the locks clicked down in the car. "You're being ridiculous" Robin said monotonically. "And you are pouting like a child" L countered back. Whammy eased the car to a stop at the red light and Robin quickly rolled down the window.

"What are you doing?" the laptop questioned as she began to shove herself out of the window. "Robin, stop!" Whammy nearly yelled as she hit the sidewalk outside, her elbow nearly knocked the wind out of her when the force of the jump jabbed it into her side. She could already feel her eye start to swell as well, the fall had also caused her face to land on her curled fist quite painfully. "Watari, where is she going?!" L asked loudly as Robin scrambled to her feet and started a few running steps, before she tripped and crashed hard to the ground on her knees and palms. The car behind Whammy honked as he attempted to reverse, at the same time Robin kicked off her heels and began a wavering sprint again. She heard whammy screech into a U-turn as she ducked into an alley, then quickly into a bar.

She was met with the stench of smoke and immediately after, light jazz music. It was obviously a bar meant for the office workers that clogged the streets outside, and the place was full of suits so she fit right in. well, aside from her shoeless feet and scraped palms. Her knees were scraped as well and her pantyhose torn, blood seeping slowly through the holes. Robin told herself to calm down as she made her way through a group of gossiping girls towards the bar. She found a free stool and sat, starting to think.

Knowing that she was L's best chance of help on the case and that he would want her to investigate in person— L never wanted to investigate in person himself--L might keep looking for her. Hence, she shouldn't go back to her apartment just yet, maybe not even go back at all tonight. Good thing she had cash on hand, credit cards could be tracked of course, so at least she could get a cheap room at some motel. "Bartender, do you know any good motels around here?" Robin asked and the girl behind the bar smiled at her. "Good as in clean? There's one called Chadron's just around the corner" Robin nodded with another courtesy smile. "You look like you've had a rough day, first drink is on the house for ladies tonight" Robin laughed in her head. She really looked of age? It must be darker in the bar than she thought. "No, thank you for telling me about the motel, though" she said before getting up and crossing the room.

She was careful when she stepped back into the street, but she couldn't see a single black car like Whammy's anywhere, it was a good sign. It was getting darker and cloudy and Robin wished she had thought to bring a coat this morning, hoping it wouldn't rain now of all times. "Are you okay?" A man said, breaking her out of her thoughts as she saw the stranger giving her concerned eyes. _Of course_, she thought, _no shoes and bleeding—I look perfectly fine_. "I'm alright, thank you" Robin said quickly, side-stepping the man and managing to get out of his grasp as he shouted "But your bleeding!" to the crowded sidewalk.

Robin took off her suit jacket, discretely wiping her bleeding knees with the inside of it before draping it over her shoulders and folding her arms—palms out of view. The motel's neon lights gleamed just ahead like a beacon and she hurried faster as a few drops began to fall. She made it inside the motel just a bit wet, and caught the front desk clerk just as they finished serving another customer. "Hello, can you give me your cheapest room please?" the old woman made a cooing noise as she eyed her palms that she'd placed on the counter, as well as her already bruised eye. "You okay dear? I have some bandages" it was a courtesy smile Robin gave again as she nodded with a 'yes please'. The old woman took her behind the counter and through a door, into what looked like her own room.

"Oh you're just a mess, what happened?" the old lady asked as she caught sight of Robin's knees. "I fell" she stated simply and the old lady gave her a face as if to say 'oh you poor thing'. "He roughed you up, didn't he?" she asked and Robin gave a short "pardon?" "Oh, it's no need to lie to me dear, I know how it can be. It's good you have enough sense to get away from him when you can. But you're pretty dear, you could find another man" abusive couples make up 73% of most relationship statuses.

After a long conversation with Ms. Wagram, and a longer period of Robin lying her face off, she was rewarded with some of the old lady's clean clothes and a discounted room. Room 13; Robin climbed the stairs reluctantly in the baggy Mumu, it slouched to show one pale shoulder and it came just above her knee—not to mention it was a faded grungy tie-dye. None-the-less, she was thankful for the old woman's kindness. The shapeless style reminded her of the way she dressed at Whammy's.

And it was that thought that was broken when she ran smack into the pale man.

The folded suit in her hands fell to the floor as her legs wavered in a pathetic attempt to keep her standing, but cold hands quickly held her rigidly upright. Another voice she hadn't heard in years rang out solidly in the hall, and she could almost feel her heart stopping.

"Clumsy as ever, R"


	2. Chapter 2

The Catalyst: Chapter 2

He would have moved, he was always calculative in his actions. He had meant for it to happen, for her to run into him again in quite the literal way, to try and make her feel embarrassed or surprised. Too feel something. That was one of his quirks that should have tipped her off, no matter how good of friends they were, he was always treating her like his science experiment--something he liked to toy with. He had said on numerous occasions that she had an interesting mind, a peculiar set of processes to make her the way she was. He never called it a disability. But then again, he never called it an advantage either.

"Hello , It's been quite a long time, B" Robin said as monotonically as ever, making B smile slightly just the same at her reaction—although a smile to B was a sneer to the rest of the world. "So it has. I've heard you have quite a successful career now… I read in the paper that you have quite a lovely townhouse, why are you in a place like this?" he asked, biting his thumb lightly in the way he always used to. Just in the same manner as L, but somehow B made the action seem different, like he was parodying it. As if he was making fun of the genius himself.

"Ah, a change of pace is sometimes necessary" Robin said airily and B squinted at her, staring at her bruised eye just a bit too long. "Don't tell me…" he paused and she could feel her heart thunder, this time being the only instance where the emotionless exterior caused by her Aspersers was actually useful. "You're having the place painted? Or fumigated… there are roaches even in lovely townhouses, I suppose" B stated, no doubt getting more curious of her appearance by the moment. "Yes, there are roaches everywhere, B" Robin stated nonchalantly. She was still undecided about it all.

Her professional code, and her plain sense of right and wrong, were both nagging at her to turn B in. No matter how much she wanted to believe L was wrong about what he had said in the car, she knew it was true. It was written all over B's personality. His actions back then in Whammy's, his mentality… and his presence now. His crimes were evident just by the way he was standing, by the expression on his face. All her psychological classes only confirmed everything Robin could tell was true, and maybe deep down she had known it all along.

But B has always been her best friend. Still was, even after all this time.

Besides, there was currently no substantial evidence against him, why else was L still allowing B to roam the streets? It was all L's fault in the first place. Whammy's fault. There are more suicides in Whammy's than there are success stories. The pressure placed upon the kids is immense and all from one source: L.

What makes him so great?

Robin understood how B had become this way; the pressure made the dark thoughts increase in his mind, which had then finally won when they fled Whammy's. That part… that was her fault. Maybe if they had stayed Quillish or Roger would have noticed his sociopathic tendencies, maybe they would have gotten him help. But cleaning up her mess is exactly what L wants. She stopped doing what L wanted years ago. She had stopped living in his shadow, comparing herself to him… she had stopped wanting to be him.

B just didn't have the strength to stop, and that's what broke him.

"So, you live here I'm assuming?" Robin prompted the silent, staring boy. "Hmm, I guess for the time being, yes" he responded casually. "And where are you off to now? If you're not in a rush, maybe we can have a bit of tea and catch up" she stated and B gave a thoughtful look before nodding. "Yes, why not. I was just going out to run an errand, but I suppose it can wait" he paused as he eyed the old lady's clothing on Robin's awkward frame. "Maybe you want to… change first?" he asked with a smirk.

If Robin were any other girl she would have blushed at being caught looking so stupid—looking nearly exactly as she had when she left whammy's, looking as if she hadn't changed was certainly embarrassing. Truth be told, she still felt like the same socially retarded, awkward-figured girl. But, per usual, no blood rushed to her face and she didn't stumble over her words. Sometimes she wished though, that other people could see how she felt... Even if it was the embarrassment she was feeling now.

"Ah, I have nothing to change into though… and still no shoes" she stated, looking down at her feet and wriggling her toes. "I would offer you something, only I just have duplicates to what I'm wearing now" B said, sounding amused. "Hmm I'm sure I can scrounge up a sizably less ridiculous looking outfit soon enough. Care to accompany me to my room?" B simply nodded to her statement, and they began walking down the small hall. He was even stooping in the painful-looking way L himself does, something about it made a shiver go down Robin's spine.

"I'm impressed, you can ask questions now" B stated almost conversationally and Robin laughed inside her head. "You wouldn't believe how hard it is. I have to constantly monitor my inflection; I used to have to say a question about 10 times in my head before I could ask it properly out loud. It's like chewing over your words before you say them" she mused and he gave her another sneer. "It's like you're making a plan. There's nothing wrong with plans, so long as they don't go bad in the end" and just as he said it, they were at her door. She put in the key amidst silence and left the door open for him as she walked in.

Robin stepped into the tiny bathroom quickly while shutting the door, dumping her suit on the counter and looking at what she could salvage. She shifted the neck of the dress so it rested on her shoulders and showed her bare neck. After a few minutes of staring at her suit she grabbed the thick black belt and fastened it just above her hips like a cinch belt. All in all, it made the dress look far less hideous and more indie chic. The only real concern was shoes now. Robin emerged from the bathroom to catch B sneering at the number on her room door; 13. It was always his lucky number (even though B didn't believe in luck). "Do you maybe have some shoes I could borrow?" she asked, tearing him from his stare at the door.

He looked her up and down before settling on her bare feet. "Leave it, we'll go to the park" he said simply and she mentally sighed. If she hadn't stepped on glass this far, she probably wouldn't now. "Alright, I assume you know a place then? A café?" Robin asked and B gave a thoughtful expression before a larger sneer overtook his features. "Certainly, it's fairly close as well" He stated, and with that, they strode out of her room and then out of the motel itself. Once they were on the street, Robin started to feel the internal pressure to strike up a conversation "So, B, what have you been up too?" she questioned somewhat awkwardly.

"It's funny you should ask; this and that I suppose. Nothing near as interesting, you've been popping up in the papers quite a bit since last year" B stated, giving her what she knew was an curious expression by the biting of his thumb. "Yes, I finished my degrees last year—at an accelerated rate of course. Then I jumped right into work, although most of what I've been getting is jobs with the cops" Robin said, looking both ways before the two crossed the street to where the shady beginning of the park started. "And you've gotten on some high-profile cases already. The Shipman Case, the Garner Case, the Gomez Case, not to mention the Carvajal Case… Where a 16 year old raped a 72 year old woman…" B stated, and Robin could feel him try to get her emotional goat. He was doing his experiment thing again; she could tell by the way he was searching her facial features for a hint of distress. But of course there would be none, even when she wanted to feign a smile it was hard—it was effortless to hide emotions when she didn't want them seen.

"I see you have been following many of my cases, B. And here I thought you had forgotten me after we split up" Robin said and B frowned slightly. "I can never forget anyone from Whammy's" B said it with an underlying tone, almost as if he'd tried to rid himself of memories from that accursed orphanage. It was sad really, all those kids living in a permanent shadow—the place was almost like a living, breathing shrine to L. "Well let's not discuss the unpleasantries, where is this café?" Robin asked; not any sort of place like that was nearby at all. "We're already at it" B stated and suddenly Robin got what he meant, the large ice cream and sweets stand right in front of them gave her an internal smile, although her face was still just as placid as before.

"I assumed that you still like strawberry ice cream" B said with another sneer-smile and Robin forced a smile out of her emotionless face, although both B and her knew it wasn't a fake she wanted him to see that he'd made her happy. Even if she couldn't show him a true smile. "Of course I do, how thoughtful of you B, really" she stated as they got at the back of the line to the stand, thankfully the line wasn't too long and within a couple minutes they were at the front. "Hello again Baron! Oh is this your sister?!" the bubbly waitress asked and Robin looked at B, finding the contrasting demeanors between the two quite humorous… as well as B's laughable fake name. Bubbly, happy, peppy people were just the type B despised, not to mention the fact she seemed very airheaded to think they were related. B's eye and hair color were different from her own blue and blonde.

"Good evening Mandy, and no, this is Robin--a very good friend of mine. I'll have the usual, and she'll have the strawberry ice cream" B stated and Mandy beamed at the two of them before rumbling around in the shack. "You know, I thought he was crazy when he asked for a plain 'ol jar of jam, it's really funny when you think about it" she prattled on. "Oh! And we just got some fresh strawberry jam in the back, give me a sec and I'll get it!" Mandy said with another smile before disappearing behind a divider. "Baron?" Robin questioned quietly, giving him a raised brow and B gave her a look "I happen to think it's a very classy name" he countered to her, eyeing her brow. There were a few things she could do when B last saw her, mostly smiling and frowning, but it was even an effort back then. Robin knew B was intrigued with her new emotional abilities, seldom they may be.

"Here you go! Would you like a spoon, Robin? I think it might be a bit hard to eat ice cream the way Baron does" she finished with a giggle. Robin remembered the way he used to eat all his food, utensil-less, he had hardly changed--the thought made her smile internally. "Yes please" Robin requested as B slid his jam off the counter, placing a few crumpled bills in its place. Thankfully, the last of Robin's cash was folded in her bra, but the look she got from B as she retrieved it made the waitress giggle again. "Don't be so shocked, she _is_ a woman after all! Where else would we keep things without purses?!" Mandy said to B, followed by a "That'll be $3.00, sweetie" directed at Robin. Robin quickly counted out 3 exactly before folding it up again and stashing it. The two walked away, avoiding the small tables next to the stand and opting for a bench in front of a small duck pond instead.

"Well then, I believe we were talking about work. Is being a top psychologist what you'd thought it would be?" B asked after they sat down, unscrewing the jam jar with ease. "It's been fine I suppose, I enjoy helping people. Although I do think medical professionals make too many rules,I feel like I'm always being watched over, like I'm back in…" Robin paused; she'd almost brought up the exact topic she'd wanted to avoid. "Well anyway, I like it. Although lately it's been rather… unsavory" she said, thinking back to her appointed psychologist. "A new case?" B asked, keeping his eyes on his jam-coated fingers although she knew with his tone he was curious. Usually he would stare when he got curious, so why was he looking away from her? He was asking a question, and trying to hide that he cared about the answer… _was it…?_

Did he think she was working on _his case_?

She'd noticed the information given in the news, that's how she'd known exactly what L had been talking about, but she hadn't given much thought to it. When she wasn't assigned to a case, she would never pay attention to it. Criminals and police only reminded her of Whammy's. It wasn't exactly absurd for B to think she was helping L, but it stung that he thought she valued L over her and B.

"Somewhat, yes" Robin answered, taking a few licks of her ice cream. "Somewhat?" B prompted and she nodded. "I suppose that I might as well tell you, although it makes me a bit nervous to say surrounded by so many people" Robin stated truthfully and B faked a thoughtful look, it was becoming more and more apparent that B had planned out this whole conversation. "Come here and whisper it to me then" B stated and Robin slided closer to him on the bench. She wanted to prove that she would never take L over B, but at the same time she didn't want to reveal that she knew it was B behind all of this. "L is working on the Wara Ningo Case, surely you've heard of it" She paused for him to nod. "And he wanted me to help" Robin stated and B turned to look at her, his face placid. "You agreed" it wasn't a question, and more of a statement.

"What I said to you after A died still stands," Robin said and the only part of B that failed to hide his surprise was his eyes. Robin looked around at all the people before deciding to whisper into B's ear again "I hate L" Robin continued "and I will never help him" she finished and B stared at her for a minute. "What did he do when you refused?" Robin turned back to her nearly dripping ice cream and took a few licks, answering through the sweet "He tried to force me, nearly kidnapped me before I jumped out the car window" she stated briskly. "Did he hit you?" B asked and Robin turned to him, confused although her face was absent of it. She questioned herself as to exactly why B would think that, when she suddenly hit the realization and she unconsciously lifted her hand to touch her bruised eye. "Ah, no. my usual clumsiness, I fell too hard on the sidewalk when I jumped" B nodded, actually believing her answer unlike the old lady at the motel had. Perhaps he remembered how often her knees and palms were scraped up back then at Whammy's.

"…So that's why you're in the motel? You're afraid L will track you and force you?" B asked and Robin nodded; the first scoop out of two on her ice cream gone. "I see…" B stated as he got up from the bench "It's about time I get going on that errand I have to run, perhaps I will see you later" he said, starting to walk away and Robin got up quickly, tripping over her own feet and plummeting straight to the ground on her face. The shout of 'wait' she was going to say died in her throat and instead she let out a low "Ow" as she sat up, pulling down the dress hurriedly to cover herself. She was somewhat surprised to see B still standing there. She was afraid now that since B knew she wasn't investigating him, and thus had no ties to L, he would leave her in favor of more important matters. Robin just couldn't let him walk back in her life and then walk right back out again. Truth be told, her new Whammy-less life was more successful in making her lonely than happy like she thought it would. She missed the life she used to have with A and B, and with A gone she wouldn't let B leave just like that.

"Maybe I could go with you" she felt too embarrassed and stupid to concentrate on making that a question. She was still on the floor, and practically begging him to hang out with her; she felt like a pathetic little puppy. B continued to stare at her and she sighed monotonically as she got up and began brushing herself off, she cursed quietly as she saw her knees were now bleeding again. "Sorry, that sounded… you don't have to—" he cut her off "I'm not going shopping, since you were honest with me I won't lie" he stated before looking up at the sky, it was still dark although it had stopped raining—it was looking more and more like night. "It's too late to go now anyway… let's go back and I'll explain" he finished and she nodded, grinning on the inside as she strode quickly to catch up with him.


	3. Chapter 3

**I know, I know. I haven't updated this story in soo long, but I just had a recent inspiration for it, so here you are. -Luv, Cart**

The Catalyst: Chapter 3

She was sitting on the edge of the shabby bed, sans comforter. There are 8,000 types of bacteria that live in hotels, and 5,000 are found on comforters. "So what is it that you wanted to tell me?" Robin asked, tilting her head to one side as B took a seat in a rickety chair next to the TV. He shifted to get comfortable, sitting the same as L would. Even now, he was taking pains to copy the famous detective—the idol.

"I am familiar with the Wara Ningo Case because I have been hired as a detective by the families of the victims" B stated, and all Robin could do was stare at him as he continued. "I knew L would be called for this case, so I purposefully hunted down the families so that I could work against him" B met her eyes, and while some would find the prolonged contact uncomfortable, Robin took it as a sincerity. B had to be telling the truth. Maybe L was right in the fact that B was different, and granted he was more than a little obsessed with becoming better than the idol, but… he couldn't be a killer. "I want to find the killer before L can, then he would finally be forced to see who comes first" B finished, a smirk overtaking his face at the thought of besting L.

If B was a killer, that would mean that Robin was wrong. That would mean that B was her fault, and that L was right. Robin hated the thought. "Can I help you?" Robin found herself saying, meeting B's smirk with a pushed smile of her own. "Please, you know how I feel about L. I agree with you, he needs to learn some humility" Robin finished darkly, glaring at her memory of the man with unruly hair.

She realized B was staring at her still, but in a cold way much different than before—the state he had given her back at the lake. Robin deliberated upon how to place that stare, until it hit her; B was trying to decide whether or not to trust her. "I'm not sure how my employers would feel… but, at the very least, would you accompany me to the first crime scene tomorrow?" B finally said, a polite smile poised carefully on his face.

Robin executed a smile again, clapping her hands together. "Sounds fantastic. A real case to work on, not just some typical police officer crap…" she commented. Even if L was right, B couldn't possibly do anything when Robin was right there with him. She would prove L wrong.

B stood before walking the short distance to sit beside her on the bed. "Do you remember that time at Whammy's when Quillish forced us to decorate the Christmas tree together?" B asked. Robin was a bit surprised at the suddenness of his question, but she knew exactly why he'd brought it up.

"And L got mad because we weren't doing it the way he wanted" Robin stated. "That was the first time…" She trailed off as she remembered the hurt in A's face.

"It was the first time L called us those names" B finished for her.

A had been hopelessly devoted to L, even convinced that one day she would marry him so that they could produce geniuses of their own. But, that day, L has said the words that crushed A. Robin could remember it as if it were happening at that very moment; the four of them were hanging things on the tree, Quillish in the kitchen making them cocoa, and L's quiet outrage because they wouldn't listen to his directions. It was when A climbed the ladder to put the star on top that L reached his final straw.

"You all are good for nothing" L had said, quietly but still calculated. He knew he was being cruel. "Do you even know what your letters stand for?" He turned, looking straight at Robin holding a red ball, the closest person to him. "Replacement" he said, pointing. Robin dropped the ornament, and it shattered on the floor. She wanted to cry, but couldn't. It would be a stupid thing to do, anyway. Next, L turned to B, who'd already abandoned his candy cane and was fixing L with a dirty glare. "Backup" B launched himself at L, landing a solid punch before A started shouting.

"What are you doing! You can't hurt him!" A said frantically, almost tripping as she came down the ladder and shoved B off of L. She bent over L, about to care for his bloody nose before she stopped cold at his words.

"Alternate"

A killed herself a week later.

Robin swallowed hard at the bitter memory. "We're going to prove L wrong, aren't we?" Robin asked, turning to look at B's face for sincerity. He'd been staring at her again.

"Yes, of course we will"

The night was stormy, and Robin caught little sleep, but she was still dressed and ready when B knocked on her door at ten o'clock in the morning. Her heels were silent on the carpeted floor, and she made it all the way to the door without tumbling over from them. Robin swung the door open wide, "good morning" she greeted, already knowing it was B who was standing at her doorstep.

He looked surprised at her attire. "I thought you didn't have any other clothes?" he questioned as she stepped out the door.

She looked down at her suit; the red silk shirt under her black suit jacket was professional but comfortable and the skirt that ended at her knees was a plain black but form-fitting. "A colleague of mine dropped some things off for me this morning. I didn't want to look unprofessional at the scene" Robin explained, smoothing down her blonde bob of hair.

He gave her one of those curious looks as he bit his thumb. "Were they curious as to why you were staying here?"

Robin nodded. "I simply told her I was doing some research for a classified case, I'm sure she thinks I've gotten myself into some sort of FBI trouble. Knowing her active imagination." Robin stated as the two of them made their way down the stairs.

"Do you drink coffee by any chance? I always start the day off at the café a few doors down." B stated.

"I've been known to have a cup or two. I'm more surprised that you drink it, really" she said.

B looked like he almost wanted to laugh. "Of course I don't" he said, and Robin understood as soon as they stepped in the building. The café was more of a bakery than anything, and the aroma from the many sweets and pastries was intoxicating.

"Mmm," Robin remarked, her stomach rumbling. "Curse you, B, I've been trying to watch my figure. Now I'm going to get an éclair"

B really did laugh this time, an odd sort of rasp it was. "I never though I would ever hear you say that. You really have grown since Whammy's, you're one of those responsible adults now" Robin gave him a light smile.

"I have changed a great deal since then" she remarked before approaching the barista at the counter. "One grande caffe mistro and a strawberry éclair, please" Robin ordered before turning to B. "What would you like? My treat" she asked and B hesitated before answering.

"Small black coffee and a croissant with jam" his money must be tight, Robin knew he was a gentlemen and had a distaste for women to take the check.

Robin turned back to the barista "Did you get that? Oh, and strawberry jam specifically please." she said before handing the girl exact change and slipping a dollar in the tip jar.

"You didn't have to pay" B mumbled as they took a seat at a small table outside to await their orders.

Robin gave him another smile. "Think of it as a thank you for letting me help you on the case. I really appreciate it. Plus, its nice to see you again" she commented.

It wasn't hard to see why B had such an attachment to the café, since they left him a full jar of jam with his croissant. Plus, the corner it was located on was heavy with traffic; loud enough to stop eavesdropping, but quiet enough so they could still chat. The people-traffic was another pro, since it allowed for people-watching. People-watching had been a favorite pastime of B's since their class on observation at Whammy's, and it was Robin's since she first picked up a psychology book. Together the two of them enjoyed their breakfast with idle chitchat and made-up stories about the passerby.

It was nearly noon when they made there way to the first crime scene, bypassing the crime tape and entering the house with B's key. "This seems like an awful large place for a single person to be living" Robin remarked as they walked through the house, towards the bedroom where the murder had taken place.

"I forgot to mention when I briefed you that Believe was a freelance writer. It's my understanding that he did quite well for himself" B explained. Robin recalled the details B had told her at the café, but still, figuring out the crime would be a challenge without the police reports and photographs she had become accustomed to lately.

As they entered the bedroom, something clicked in Robin's head as she noticed the thumb turn lock-but she couldn't lay a finger on the conclusion she wanted to make. She stared at it for a minute before deciding to come back to it later, somehow she knew that was important. The victims _had _been locked into their rooms…

She turned away from the door to find B staring at her. "have you thought of something?" He asked, and Robin became aware of just how long she'd been staring at the lock.

"I thought I did, but-" Robin cut herself off as a door slammed downstairs.

B grabbed her arm, placing his other hand over her mouth when she opened it to question him, and dragging her into the closet. It was pitch black and so cramped that her back was tightly pressed against B's chest. Robin wanted to fight his hand over her mouth to demand an explanation, but she was frozen as they stood huddled together. One thought was running through her brain, making her heart race and her breathing shake. _What if the person walking up the stairs now is the killer? It isn't a cliché that suspects return to the scene of the crime…_

The person slid open the bedroom door and walked inside slowly. Robin tried to regulate her breathing, but that only made it worse-her chest was heaving now. B noticed, his other hand left it's grip on her wrist and snuck around her waist to pull her close to him. It was supposed to comfort her, but Robin couldn't help feeling trapped since her arms were now pegged to her sides. B's hand on her mouth was making her feel claustrophobic. An unexplainable feeling welled up inside her, and she wanted to run.

"Generally speaking, when the killer engages in this type of meaningless destruction of the corpse, they have a deep-seated grudge against their victim…" The person said, judging by their tone it was a woman. She sounded businesslike about her assumptions, and Robin guessed that she was one of those few police officers that cataloged a case with a tape recorder. "For a freelance writer who would take any job, I wouldn't be surprised if he had a few enemies. He did a lot of gossip columns…" The woman continued, trailing off. Robin was surprised to hear muffled murmuring, but it explained why she was voicing her thoughts aloud. The woman was on a cell phone with someone, probably another officer on the case.

Robin's breathing and heart rate had settled, since it was now obvious the intruder was some sort of police officer and really nothing to worry about. Still, B hadn't released his grip on her. Were there room in the closet to maneuver, she could worm her way out of B's grasp, but there wasn't. Robin wriggled a bit in B's hold and, as if coming out of a daze, B's hands were off her in an instant. Robin made a move to open the door, but B stopped her and gently pressed her ear to the wood instead. She got the point, and both of them shifted noiselessly, so they could press their ears to the thin door. Offhandedly, Robin wondered why they couldn't just go out and greet the officer, but she let the thoughts go as the woman began speaking again.

"I guess I should check the other rooms" she said, the sound of her footsteps leading towards the door. "Seems sort of pointless, if he wiped all the fingerprints in the house…" Her footsteps stopped suddenly, before they turned and headed for the wall. _What is she looking for? _Robin thought, but couldn't ponder any further since she was now tumbling harshly out of the closet and onto the wooden floor.

"What? Who are you?" The woman roared, trying to sound intimidating although her body stance was unsure and vulnerable. Her hand was deep in her jacket pocket, but it was obvious she had no gun. She was too scared to have a weapon.

Robin finished surveying the tall, pretty, Asian woman from the floor before she looked at B. He had remained upright, and now he was looking at the prone Robin with humor dancing in his eyes. B offered her a hand and she took it, allowing his strong arms to lift her up and place her on her feet as the woman gave another shout.

"Answer me! Who are you?" The woman demanded, her voice a tad stronger this time as she aimed the fake gun back and forth from Robin to B.

Robin dusted off her knees. "Stop that, I know you don't have a real gun" she stated placidly at the woman. The woman faltered before dropping her act, although she now held up her fists as if they were the same as a gun.

"My name is Ryuzaki, it's nice to meet you" B said, calm and collected as if they hadn't just tumbled out of a closet. "This is my associate Robin" he said, gesturing towards Robin who gave a little wave.

The woman looked bewildered. "I need some air" she stated, opening the bedroom door and walking downstairs into the living room. B and Robin followed silently and watched as she opened a window. Robin took a seat on the sofa, and B wordlessly sat beside her.

The woman took deep breaths, her head sticking out the window "I'm afraid you didn't introduce yourself, Mrs…?" Robin pointed out, and she turned around to face them.

"How did you get in here?" she asked, ignoring Robin's words.

"The front door, of course" B stated, Robin was amused but the woman was not.

She crossed the room before sitting on the other couch across from them, the coffee table between them. "Are you aware that this is a closed crime scene?" the woman asked.

B nodded, producing a card from his pocket and placing it on the table. "I've been hired by the deceased's parents, you see. I'm here doing an investigation. It seems you are as well?" Robin caught a glimpse of the card as the woman picked it up: Rue Ryusaki, Detective.

"So you're a private investigator?" The woman questioned, once again ignoring a question.

B was quick with his response. "No. That term would not be very accurate. I feel the term 'private detective' carries with it an unnecessary ego" Robin wanted to chuckle, knowing he meant L. "You might say I'm an un-private detective. A detective without ego"

"I see…" the woman was certainly not impressed by B's playing with words. She directed her attention towards Robin. "And you?"

"It's very rude to ask someone's name without relinquishing your own" Robin stated. The woman's snobbish attitude wasn't sitting well with Robin. And there was the way she was avoiding questions.

The woman looked taken aback. "Naomi Misora" she said simply.

Robin nodded. "Much better. I'm Robin Steele. I'm a psychologist, I normally work with the police. My question is, what are you doing here?" Robin stated, and Naomi blanched slightly. She probably guessed that Robin knew she wasn't with the homicide police department, since Robin worked with them. And if Naomi wasn't homicide; what was she doing here?

The weight of the room changed, suddenly it wasn't Naomi who was doing the interrogating. "I'm investigating as well" Naomi stated.

"You aren't part of LA homicide, what division are you?" Robin asked calmly.

"I'm also a detective" Naomi stated, it was obvious she was lying, but Naomi followed up before Robin could ask another question. "What exactly were you two doing in that closet?"

If Robin were any other person, she would have blushed. The connotations weren't present in Naomi's tone, but the way she'd phrased the question made the two of them sound like excited teenagers. "I heard you coming in, I knew their wasn't a police investigation today, so I assumed you were the suspect returning to the crime" Robin explained, unruffled. "We had no choice but to hide" she finished.

Naomi looked satisfied by her answer, although the suspicious look from the start of their conversation was still firmly on her face. "Misora, You never said who you worked for" B spoke up.

Robin carefully watched Naomi's expression as it faltered slightly, it was an indicator of lying-although normally people displayed more than one. The conclusion was obvious; Naomi had been trained by someone. She wasn't a cop, but her training made it obvious that she wasn't a detective. "I can't tell you that information, although I have been hired by the relatives of the victims to find the killer" That run-around, Robin had heard it once before.

On the Gomez case, FBI agents had been called in to finish it up. Robin tilted her head as it clicked. _Naomi had to be FBI._ _But why would she be working, alone, on such a specific case?_ Robin questioned herself, and the realization hit her like a truck: _L._

"Why don't we team up?" B asked from beside her, and Robin turned her head sharply to him. _No, don't…_

"_No, thank you for the offer, but I have a duty to keep things secret." Naomi said hastily, and Robin's thoughts let out a sigh of relief. If L's little agent reported back to him that B was here and working with Robin, there was no telling what could happen. Robin and B could be brought in for interrogation simply because they were inside an active crime scene._

"_I don't" B insisted. Robin was staring at him. Even if her stare was unemotional, he surely must be getting the message._

_Naomi looked taken aback. "…of course you do, you're a detective"_

"_Oh? Then, I do" B paused. "But, it seems to me that the case must take precedence, so how about this; I provide you with all the information I have in return for nothing"_

_Robin glanced from Naomi to B. "Rue," She'd almost called him B in her haste. "You can't possibly be serious…" Robin stated._

_Naomi spoke up, as if just to spite her "It depends on what information you have"_


	4. Chapter 4

"You realize that Misora is working with L?" Robin asks as soon as Misora left the room with a bogus excuse upon seeing the complicated crossword puzzle B produced.

It was written all over the FBI agents lying face, her connection to L. There was something else too, a lingering hesitation. _Why doesn't she have a gun with her?_ Robin briefly wonders but decides to save that thought to mull over later. B's reaction to her question was much more important.

Robin's question had left B… _smiling_. It wasn't pleasant, it was a grueling sort of smirk that felt like it held secrets. A telltale I-know-something-you-don't-know. It made Robin's stomach twist.

"Of course, that's obvious" B stated swiftly, wiping the smile from his face and getting up from the couch casually.

"I don't understand why on earth you would offer to work with her, she's probably gone off to tattle to L about us right now" Robin stated, eyeing the stairs for Misora's return and wishing she had given the woman a fake name.

B was clanking about in the kitchen now, opening the fridge as he spoke. "You know what they say. Keep your friends close-"

"And your enemies closer" Robin finished flippantly for him. When she turned her gaze to B instead of the staircase, something in his eyes made her insides shiver. Robin couldn't help but feel like there was something in him that was always laughing at her. _The same look he has when he tests my emotions_. Robin thought, _Playful, mocking, a sparkling interest…_

"Ryuzaki, Steele, I apologize but I must take my leave now" Misora said suddenly from behind them and Robin jumped in spite of herself.

_Typical, take our information but leave us with nothing. _Robin thought bitterly, punishing the woman byrefusing to turn around and bid her farewell.

On the other hand, it was a chance B seemed to relish; disgusting the FBI agent with another weird action. "Leaving so soon?" he enquired with one hand in his mouth and the other holding a strawberry jam jar. Misora simply gaped at him for a few moments, jaw dropped.

The silence made Robin turn to look at the two in curiosity, and she sighed at the asian woman before getting up from the couch. "It's rude to stare" Robin stated curtly as she walked around the two and closed the fridge door B had carelessly left open.

Misora finally seemed to come back to earth. "Y-you have strange eating habits" the woman stuttered to B, thinly veiling a look of disgust. Robin pursed her lips into a tight line at the woman's actions.

"Do I? I don't think so" B countered in mock-surprise, scooping out another handful of jam. "when I start thinking, I get a craving for sweets. If I want to work well, jam is essential. Sugar is good for the brain" he said when Misora remained silent.

Robin thought it sounded like a speech straight from L's mouth, and it settled over her with a strange unease. Something kept tugging at her brain, a nagging feeling like she was missing something; a hint directed straight at her. It was frustrating, the notion swam so close to her only to slip through a crack to be lost. Robin had never excelled in investigative studies, anyway.

"Hunh…" the sound Misora emitted held a clipped version of the emotions Robin could tell were playing across her face. _confusion, disgust, disbelief…_

"I have another jar in the fridge, if you would like some" B stated brightly, but Robin knew he was just mocking the woman. B took a strange pleasure in disgusting Misora, Robin noted that it nearly paralleled a perversion but she was unsure how to process that fact.

"Didn't you say you were leaving?" Robin asked, ignoring the glare she received from Misora in return for being borderline rude to the woman.

B frowned. "Don't be silly, Robin. Misora couldn't have possibly finished inspecting the scene" he said before brining the jam jar to his lips.

"But, I…" Misora trailed off as she watched B slurp the rest of the jam up, she shortly regained her composure as B began licking the substance from his fingers. Misora cleared her throat. "I don't think that theirs much left here to find, the police have already looked it over pretty thoroughly." she said.

"The police overlooked the crossword puzzle, it wouldn't surprise me if they overlooked something in here" B stated.

Misora paused in thought before answering him. "If you put it that way… but their's just so little to work with" she said.

"We could start with the room where the body was found" Robin stated, not wishing to contribute to the alliance, but becoming annoyed at the woman's protests. She certainly didn't seem like a candidate that L would use, FBI agent or not.

B dumped the empty jar in the trash. "An excellent notion, Robin" he said, giving her a too-wide smile as he crossed to the staircase. "Shall we, Naomi?" He asked, sweeping a hand to the stairs as if saying 'after you'. Robin somehow found the action annoying, and the small fake smile Misora gave B as she walked past him only furthered the grating feeling settling over Robin. A hatred was boiling up inside her.

As soon as they made it inside the room, B dropped to all fours and began methodically studying every inch of the floor. Despite the returning expression of disgust, Robin was amused by the surprise that shone on Misora's face. She nearly laughed aloud when B turned back to the woman and asked her to join him.

"!" Misora said, a sound between a urgent refusal and a shocked cry of surprise. The woman shook her head no so fast that her long black hair whipped Robin in the face.

Robin had never wanted to glare at someone so badly as she did now, lifting a hand to rub her cheek where the offending hair had struck. "B, you don't even have a clue as to what we're supposed to be looking for" Robin stated sourly, wishing Misora had just left them alone instead of begrudgingly leading them upstairs.

B paused. "A clue?" he said thoughtfully aloud before sitting back on his haunches and biting his thumb. "What do you think, Naomi? When you came in, was there something you noticed? Something that could narrow it down?" B inquired and Robin determinedly expressed a frown.

_Sure, don't bother asking me. _Robin thought in annoyance. _It's not as if I have anything to say. I might as well be wallpaper._

"There was something…" Misora said, but paused suddenly before mulling it over in her head.

_Indecision, tenseness… she's keeping a secret…_ Robin thought, analyzing Misora's features as best she could. The woman seemed to utilize the FBI's facial training only when necessary, and she certainly was using it well at that moment.

"Well, I suppose instead of a full information exchange, I am willing to share something with you for giving me the crossword. Here, take a look at this photograph" Misora said, making up her mind and outstretching a large photo toward B.

"Photograph?" B said, exaggeratedly. Almost as if he knew of the importance of the photo.

Robin intercepted the photo from Misora as B made his way over to the two of them. A body on an autopsy table, obviously Believe Bridesmaid, with knife wounds carved deep into the man's chest. Robin squinted at them, that nagging feeling creeping up on her again. _The cuts look like letters… code? _Robin lost the thought as she felt Misora's eyes on her. If she could have managed a mocking smile, Robin would have expressed one at that moment as she looked up to meet Misora's unashamed staring.

"Are you trying to gauge my reaction?" Robin asked, laughing at the woman in her head. _What an absolute idiot Misora is. _Robin mused,_ Thinking she can possibly decipher what my emotions are after minutes from meeting me? B can barely pick out some of them, and he's known me for years. No, Misora, unlike you-hiding my thoughts are effortless. You won't get anything from me to tell L._

B's hand came into Robin's line of vision suddenly and disrupted her dark stare at Misora as B grabbed the photo from Robin's hands. "To say something like that makes it seem as if Misora is suspecting you, Robin" B stated, making Misora's face fall.

_Embarrassment. So it's the truth, L's pawn suspects me a little liar. Is that it? Do you think I'm lying about who I am? _Robin questioned the girl in her head, enjoying the unsettling shift of shoulders she got from Misora under her unmoving stare_. No, no, Misora, you're the only liar here._

"Well done, Naomi" B exclaimed, breaking Robin's thoughts as she turned to look at him. "The news didn't mention that the victim's body had been cut up like this, which means that this photo is from the police files. I'm curious as to how a normal detective got theirs hands on it" B stated.

Robin's cool gaze returning to Misora made the woman shiver, but the woman tried to ignore it as she spoke. "Well, you were able to get the crossword puzzle. How exactly did you manage that?" Misora asked, her face satisfied that she avoided the inquiry and caught B instead.

"That would be my duty to keep secrets" B stated, Misora's satisfied expression falling at his words.

"How does the photo relate to your idea, Misora?" Robin asked, getting tired of the two's ability to repel back and forth. Distantly, it reminded her of tennis. B had been one of L's competitors in that, too.

Misora gave her a look of surprise, perhaps because of Robin addressing her without a rude undertone. "Well, I thought the clue might be something that's here, but wasn't here anymore. Like something the killer had taken, only it was something the killer had left behind but just wasn't here" she said.

"The rooms occupant, clever" B muttered around the thumb in his mouth.

Robin was getting bored of the niceties he was giving the FBI agent, when she was so clearly giving him only repulsion. "Yes, I see what your saying. The cuts aren't inflicted with the aggressiveness of emotion. The killer was clearly trying to simply send a message through the body." Robin stated.

"If you turn the photo, they look like letters" Misora stated, ignoring Robin's comment as if she hadn't said anything at all.

"No, not letters… roman numerals" B stated, and then it had clicked into place for Robin.

_Of course that's what they were. How could I be so stupid as to not see…_ Robin let her thoughts trail off and pushed down her frustration. _You've never been a good detective anyway, Robin._ she told herself, suddenly feeling very useless to the situation as Misora and B continued theorizing.

"I need to excuse myself" Misora said suddenly, and Robin's ears immediately perked up with suspicion.

"Whatever for?" Robin asked innocently. Misora had denied she was speaking to anyone on the phone earlier, and B had denied that the two of them had heard anything from the closet. It was still painfully obvious that the woman was going to go call L and inform him of the message on Believe's chest.

Misora gave her a flat look, "I need to fix my makeup" she said, leaving the room without waiting for a response.

"Bullshit" Robin stated as soon as the woman was out of earshot.

B looked up from the bookcase and to her face with an amused look. "I've never heard you curse before" he stated.

Robin allowed herself to express a frown at the closed door left by the woman's departure. "It's that Misora," Robin commented, "She sure is a prissy one"

B raised his brows at her in curiosity before letting out a chuckle that didn't sound quite right. "you're jealous of her" he said plainly.

She tried to glare at him, but it came out as a flat stare. "I do not get jealous" Robin stated.

"Correction, you don't show your jealousy. But I can tell. You don't like her" B said, amused.

"Just because I dislike her doesn't mean it stems from jealousy. Its just…" she paused, unsure of how to word it. "She looks at you in this way… like you're revolting. It's insulting and pompous" Robin finished.

B stared at her for a beat, until his same cackling chuckle resounded in the room again._ Why on earth doesn't that bother him? If L treated B the way Misora does…_ Robin paused in her thought before gritting her teeth. _L does treat him like that, the world like that. As if we are the scum beneath his mighty feet. How fitting for him to pick a pawn to tell him how all us little common folk are doing._

Robin stepped through the door, her mind now a flurry of anger at the 1 detective and his pawn. "I want to know what she's telling L" she stated.

"Tell her I found something" B said as she walked down the hall and towards the bathroom.

"But it wasn't me that figured it out" Misora stated through the door, her voice quiet but perfectly audible when Robin pressed her ear to the door. "How can I put this… a kind of… mysterious private detective. The one I mentioned before" Misora said.

_I knew it, _Robin thought, _So when she scurried away earlier with that bogus excuse, she was telling L about us. Or at least B. Has the little rat told him about me yet?_

"Hunh?" Another one of the woman's expressions of disbelief. "No, absolutely not. He's creepy and such a complete freak that it's amazing he hasn't killed himself. If we divided everyone in the world into those that would be better of dead and those that wouldn't, their's no doubt in my mind that he would be the former"

_Jesus, don't hold anything back Misora._

"and that woman he's with… Rocks have more emotion than her. She's unsettling and cold; so suspicious that if I wasn't on leave, I would arrest her right now" Misora stated.

_On leave, you say? Is there a reason why the FBI gave you leave without a gun? Perhaps you mean something more like suspension._

"Yes?" a pause. "I agree" another pause "No, I'm in the bathroom furthest from the bedroom. Okay" and then the click of a phone shutting.

Robin knew Misora would be leaving the bathroom, but since she was such an 'unsettling' person, she kept her stance directly in front of the door and stared at the wood grain until Misora opened the door.

Something in the woman's surprised yelp was satisfying for Robin.

"B's found something" Robin stated simply. "Are you quite finished?"

Misora looked shaken. "Y-yes?"

Robin's wheels turned as she thought about catching the woman in her lie. "The toilet didn't flush" she stated.

"…that's rather rude" the woman said in return, wincing at her mistake.

"Is it? I think it's rather rude to display such unsanitary behavior"

"I was on the phone" Misora finally conceded. "Just a regular check-in with my client. I didn't want you and Ryuzaki to hear some of it"

"for the record, flushing is still great camouflage for that" Robin stated before the two of them walked back to the bedroom.

The rest of the time the three of them spent in the house was filled with conjectures and theories; finally a conclusion as well. The killer had carved the roman numeral's onto Believe's chest and taken the manga books as a message. When it was solved, the name of the next victim: Quarter Queen was glaring back at them.

But Robin couldn't stray her focus from Misora's underlying nervousness throughout the interaction. Of course, Misora must suspect that at least Robin knew of her conversation even though it didn't make her tie to L apparent. The fact that the woman was nervous about it was a good sign as well as a bad one. Misora had her high points, but her low ones were abysmal.

It made Robin a bit disappointed that L had chosen Misora as his pawn. She had no exclusivity, for hell's sake Misora was dialing L's number in a place where she could obviously be overheard, with little foresight for preventative measures. It had to be a crushing mistake in L's judgment-how did he not see her shortcomings when L hired her for the investigation? Did he just pick a name at random?

_Even Misora's deductions are guided by B's own knowledge. _Robin thought as Misora bade the two of them a polite farewell and headed out of Believe's house with her new knowledge of the case. _Her skills are pathetic, I would have made a better candidate for the investigation. _Robin stopped, confused with her own thoughts. _I would never play for that team anyway… I would never be on L's side..._


	5. Chapter 5

It was three weeks before A's death that her cat was killed. Well, it wasn't entirely her cat. But it didn't have a collar, and it always came around the back of the gate by the kitchen so A could give it scraps. It was obviously not born wild with the way it would eagerly rub around the legs of anyone that ventured out through the kitchen door. The institution was far out of any city's way, so it was probably more likely that someone had dumped the cat. Cookie, the institution chef, and her various kitchen staff had taken to calling the calico cat Motley because of her mixed fur coloring. But it was A who had pleaded to feed the starving alley cat when it first showed up.

A was a solemn girl, always worried about something or other, and the pressure of tests and classes always had her panicky and jumpy. When Motley came along, A relaxed a bit. She would never outright tell anyone, but Robin had definitely caught her talking to the cat once. B was Robin's best friend, and it seemed that Motley was A's.

A said that Motley ran away. At least, that's what she told Whammy and anyone else that asked her. A only told Robin the truth, but only if she _promised_ not to tell. B had said L was jealous of A's pet, because animals weren't allowed at the institution unless they were for biology class. L had made a fuss to B about it, L had yelled at him, L had said he didn't like A because she was unfair.

It was with wet, watering eyes that A had repeated that last part to Robin. "_L had said he didn't like me."_

For someone like A, killing the cat had seemed like the only solution. She had asked B to do it for her, but in the end B had just watched and gave her instructions. Because A wasn't good at anatomy, but B had done lots of dissections. He told her what to do.

It was then that Robin knew A was sick, but A made her _promise_ not to tell. _Pinky promise_.

"B?" Robin said as she knocked on his hotel room door. She'd been at it for nearly five minutes already, it was obvious by now that B wasn't there. "Did you seriously go to the scene without me?" She asked the air, turning her back to the door and sliding her back down against it so she could sit on the floor. To her surprise, the door clicked open.

Waiting inside where she could sit on something other than the floor would certainly be more comfortable, so Robin let herself in the room and sat on the bed after closing the door behind herself. The room was a bit messy, but not in a way that would be worse than a typical person. The first thing Robin noticed was the faint smell, like rotting food, but it was hard to pick out since the window was slightly open and there was close to fifty air fresheners scattered around the room. It was odd, and Robin once again got that nagging feeling in the back of her mind. She shrugged it off as a typical quirk of an institution's child.

_What am I supposed to do now? _Robin thought, _I suppose I could go back to my apartment and grab some things. L is probably going to leave me alone now since he has Misora. She obviously didn't tell him about me, otherwise he probably would have had me put into custody. Or perhaps she has, and L just gave up on me. It wouldn't be the first time. He never tried looking for me or B when we left…_

B opening the door silenced Robin's thoughts. "Where have you been?" Robin questioned as she stood, teetering slightly on her heels. "I thought we were supposed to be at the second crime scene at ten?" she asked. _He's frustrated, no-angry_. _But why? _Robin thought, surveying his features.

"What are you doing in here?" B asked harshly, ignoring her questions.

Robin was taken aback by his tone. "I was looking for you, I thought you'd left me behind. Where were you?" she asked again.

B was gripping her shoulders suddenly, ferociously. "Don't ever come into my room!" he ordered, a snarl on his face and something glaring dangerously in his eyes. He was shaking her, "you have no place in my room!" he bellowed, now pressing her shoulders flat into the bed, his fingernails digging into her painfully.

Internally, Robin was shocked. She'd never seen B so out of control before and it was absolutely terrifying. B was looming over her on the bed and the only thing Robin's mind was filled with was panic at the sight of his wild eyes and screaming face. His nails were burying into her, pain blooming from her shoulders and red seeping through the crisp white dress shirt she was wearing.

Robin's mind was blocked. Her usual brain function that rejected any sort of reaction wasn't quick enough to stop her cry of pain. "B!" She yelled in distress, voice cracking and straining from the torment.

He froze, his own screaming stopped but his eyes still dark and wild as he looked down at her. "Did you say my name?" B asked, voice guttural as a slow smile crept over his face. _Shock, excitement, pleasure._

Robin's stomach twisted in fear and her hands were shaking. She wanted to get up, she wanted to run; but there was B. So strong, so unpredictable, trapping her beneath him with ease. Her head was spinning, she was so dizzy; _Am I going to faint? When my emotions get worked up, I get dizzy and then… Then I-_

"Robin, Robin, say it again" B was suddenly harshly whispering in her ear, nails digging into her shoulders. "Say my name like that again"

She woke up covered in sweat, shooting up straight in her bed at the panic running through her body. "Robin? What are you doing, I thought you would be ready by ten?" B's voice said from the other side of the hotel room's door, Robin almost screamed in response at hearing his voice. She tore off her T-shirt, hands slipping over her shoulders with a desperate fear. There were no nail marks, no blood, nothing. The clock read 10:45.

"It was just a dream" she called through the door, then shook her head as she realized her words would make no sense to him. "I mean, I overslept… I…" words failed her and she got out of bed shakily, taking a deep breath to calm her mental state. Even though her voice was calm, the rest of her felt like it was going to shake apart at any moment. "Hold on, I'll let you in" Robin called, running a hand through her hair and slipping on her shirt before opening the door.

When she saw B standing in the hall, another involuntary dose of fear struck her body like a flash of lightning, an aftershock of her dream. "You look awfully pale" B said, tilting his head to one side. "You're shaking, too. Are you alright?" he questioned.

Robin led him inside and poured herself a glass of water, draining it before she spoke. "I just had a bad dream" she stated, running a hand through her messy bed hair again. "I'm sorry I overslept, I swore I had the alarm on, too…" Robin trailed off, stomach twisting as she realized B was giving her an intense stare.

"What was it about?" He asked innocently.

"What?" she faltered. "The dream? I…" she trailed off, looking at the ceiling as she thought about it. _The dream version of B was manic, screaming at and threatening me, but the way he… Somehow it seemed like… it seemed… _"Obscene" Robin finished out loud impulsively and quickly switched her glance over to B as her thoughts jumbled with embarrassment. "That is, I mean sometimes my work gives me nightmares-"

"Do I give you nightmares?" B asked, cutting her off.

Robin faltered, unsure of what to say. _Did I talk in my sleep? Did he hear? _She thought in a panic, although it didn't show in her face. "What do you have in your room?" She blurted suddenly, and B's eyebrows rose in surprise.

He simply stated at her for a few moments before releasing his odd cackling laugh. "You can be such a funny, funny girl, Robin" he stated, with a smile so similar to the one he wore in her dream that she found herself shaking again.

"I better go take a shower and get dressed if we want to have any hope of leaving soon" Robin stated dizzily and grabbed some clothes from her small closet before retreating into the bathroom. Even in the comfort of the warm shower, she felt like B's eyes were burning into her skin. _You're being stupid, Robin. _She told herself, _He's been your best friend since childhood, what the hell are you thinking to be frightened of him? It was just a dream, dreams mean nothing- _"90% of dreams are drawn from reality." Robin expressed a frown at the statistic that interrupted her thoughts. Blurting out facts was another sign of her nervousness, and another symptom of her aspergers.

By the time she had finished showering and dressing, Robin had calmed down considerably, and she opened the bathroom door without shaking. "It's nearly 11:30 now" B stated as she crossed the room to throw her nightshirt and shorts on the bed.

"I know, I'm sorry. I've made you late" Robin stated, giving him an apologetic look.

B smiled widely. "At least I got my errand done this morning. Although I wonder if Misora will get there before us today…" he mused.

Misora had indeed arrived before the two of them did, but she insisted that it was only by a few minutes and that she didn't have much time to look around as of yet. The apartment was incredibly small and cramped, so the three of them found it quite difficult to survey the scene properly; especially with B on all fours again.

"Yesterday," Misora spoke suddenly, eying the holes in the wall where the wara ningyo had been nailed in. "we uncovered the message the killer left behind, but the wara ningyo and locked room remain mysteries" she said, brows furrowing as she ran a hand over one of the nail holes.

"Yes, but I don't think it's worth wasting much time on that. This isn't a mystery novel, its far more likely the killer just used a key" B commented, Misora shot him a frustrated look.

"True enough, but it has got to be important somehow. There was no need for the killer to create a locked room, but he did so anyway. in which case, it might be a kind of puzzle…" Misora pointed out.

"There are many ways to create a locked room, but I think the real reason is _why_ did the killer do such a thing. You're right in saying the locked room wasn't necessary, so if it is a puzzle, _why_ did she do it?"

"She?" Robin spoke up, and both Misora and B turned to her. "You think a woman committed these murders? It's statistically far more likely that a man did" Robin stated.

"Now, Robin, you can't be sure of that. Unless there was some kind of evidence either way, but there isnt. I was simply saying the first thing that came to mind. No need to get upset about it" B stated evenly, and Robin expressed a frown.

"I'm not getting upset, I'm simply saying that-"

Misora cut Robin off "Why are you being so insistent that the killer isn't a woman?" she asked, not hiding the suspicious glare in her eyes.

"I'm not-Nevermind. Forget I said anything. I just don't think it's as likely" Robin muttered, giving up with a sigh.

"Well the fact that the first murder was a man makes it more likely that it is a female killer, but Quarter Queen was a little girl, which makes it more likely to be male" B said as Misora pulled some pictures from her bag.

"I'm not sure on that. I mean, the strength necessary to bring Believe down, means it was more likely a man that killed him. However, Quarter was little as you say, so…" Misora paused, looking at the pictures. "Either way, what a horrible thing… To kill a child" she commented, eyes full of empathy as she stared at the picture.

Robin came up beside her, looking at the photo before taking it out of her hand. "The killer jammed out her eyes, how horrible indeed…" Robin said, trailing off and noting that Misora's eyes were on her again. "Although the killer did this without anger, unlike most mutilation of corpses, this was done calmly. It's odd that he put her glasses back on as well… Although both murders have had post-mordem altercations to the body. Maybe it's another message" Robin stated, looking up from the photo to find Misora staring at her blatantly.

"How do you do that?" Misora questioned, looking slightly sick.

"What?" Robin asked.

"Say all of that without emotion. Don't you care about the victims at all? These people were murdered, they aren't boring business reports" Misora said, an anger edging in her voice.

Robin opened her mouth to speak, but B was already. "Would the two of you like some coffee?" B asked, diffusing the tension. Robin was welcome for the distraction.

"Yes, that would be lovely, thank you" Robin stated and rubbed her knuckles over her temples.

"Sure" Misora said simply, not even bothering to thank B since she was still keeping her full attention on Robin. The room was tense, but silent as B left to make the coffee. The two of them took a seat at the table, doing nothing but staring at each other until B returned with three cups on a tray.

"Here we are" B stated, setting down the tray before sitting up in the chair in a mockingly L fashion.

Robin gave him a smile of thanks before taking one of the cups, Misora's hand brushing against her own, and lifting it to her lips. At the same time, both woman sputtered and coughed from the simple sip. "Ugh, _cough, hack,_ Urggh" Misora and Robin said.

"Once something has entered your mouth, it should never be spat out like that" B stated, an amused twinkle in his eye as he matched Robin's dark stare she was giving him in place of a glare. "And those horrible moans the two of you were producing do nothing for your images. Beautiful women such as yourselves should try to present accordingly" B finished.

Robin wanted to hit him. "You twat" she said instead, the insult sounding slightly ridiculous in her monotone voice. "Don't try to flatter someone after you've poisoned them" she finished, looking at the sugar-coffee paste in her cup.

B let out one of his odd chuckles, "Don't be silly. Not poison, only sugar. We had it like this all the time at the institution" B stated matter-of-factly.

Misora looked surprised "The _institution_? An asylum?" the woman questioned, and Robin wanted to burst into laughter.

_Well, I suppose it was quite like one, in retrospect. _Robin thought humorously. "_No_. Not that it's any of your business, but the two of us grew up together in an orphanage" Robin stated, satisfied that she was able to place an inflection on her words.

"I feel like I drank dirt" Misora says, thankfully retracting from the subject as she looked into her own mug.

"Dirt is certainly not this sweet" B said, guzzling down his own cup.

"_Sweet_ dirt" Misora stated.

"Ah," said B, finishing his cup and ignoring Misora's abhorred face. "Coffee always picks me up"

Robin stared at him before putting her own cup back onto the tray and looking at Misora. "I'm going to make some black coffee, would you like some?" She asked the woman, Misora's eyebrows arching in surprise.

"Uh… yes, please" Misora stated, caught rather off guard.

Robin took the tray with three cups into the kitchen and placed B's in the sink before washing out the other two and starting a new pot brewing. Misora's reaction to Robin's tone had not been particularly surprising. When Robin first started using her knowledge to aid crime investigation, the same thing had happened with another officer. It was disheartening, Robin didn't want to outright tell people about her aspergers, but in events like these perhaps she should. _But whenever I do, I always end up being treated like I'm fine china… or an idiot, _Robin thought, _No… It's best that I don't say anything. Perhaps if Misora drags it up agai-_

B suddenly came into her line of vision, and Robin jumped in spite of herself. "You have been rather jumpy this morning, Robin. Are you alright?" he asked innocently, eyes boring into her in a way that certainly wasn't helping her feel any better.

"_Robin, Robin, say it again" _She shook the dream away and avoided his eyes, turning to look at the coffeepot instead. "I'm perfectly fine. shouldn't you be with Misora?" she asked before jumping again at a hand on her shoulder.

"She has excused herself to the bathroom again, judging by the noises, she's trying to gargle the sugar from her mouth" B stated as Robin tried to ignore how bothering his hand was on her.

"Ah, you can truly be cruel sometimes" Robin stated, meaning the sugar he had doused both of the woman's coffees with. Robin dared to look at his face but immediately regretted it as his eyes brought back more semblance of her dream. _"Say my name like that again"_

Robin ripped her gaze from B's face, missing his growing smile as she did so. "Humanity can be cruel sometimes" B stated, dipping his hand to the small of her back and making Robin jump again as he lightly placed his flat palm there. "But I'm far more concerned about your well being than that" B said.

She was shaking again, a panic rising inside her even though her mind reminded her that B was not danger. _B is a frien-"Robin, Robin, say it again" _Robin jolted back from her thoughts, tearing herself away from B's touch as her body finally succumbed to her fight-or-flight reflex. "First described by Walter Cannon in 1927" Robin blurted, heart thundering in her chest but her shaking being the only obvious show of her fear.

B was giving her his too-wide smile. _Amused._ "The acute stress response, or commonly known as flight-or-fight" B stated in response to her trivia. "You're nervous" He stated, he knew she would spout things so out of context only when she was panicky. B advanced on her like a predator it's prey; except for the wide smile on his face. "But whatever for?" he asked.

Robin couldn't answer, her back was pressed against the wall now and B was still coming towards her. _B is a friend, B would never hurt me, _Robin thought, but it was doing nothing to stop her increasingly rapid panicked breathing._ I'm being ridiculous, this is insane, calm down! B is just trying to help m-_

"Am I… interrupting something?" Misora asked from the kitchen doorway, Robin had suddenly never been more thankful for the woman.

B cleared his throat and turned around, with his back to Robin it was far easier for her to calm down. "Certainly not, Robin was just having something of a panic attack and I was trying to help her" B stated evenly, all trace of his amused smile gone now.

Misora looked skeptical, eyeing Robin's emotionless features with a slight curiosity. To her, Robin looked as she always did except for the small shaking of her frail body. "Well, I'm sure cornering her wasn't exactly helping her" Misora pointed out before crossing the kitchen to get some untainted coffee from the pot. "By the way, I had a thought…" Misora trailed off before retrieving a few photos of the crime scenes.

Robin paid no attention to the resulting conversation, her head was buzzing with too many thoughts and a dizziness was beginning to take over her as she moved to the sink. Shakily, she poured water into her coffee mug and swallowed the whole glass. It seemed to calm her outward nerves, but her thoughts were still full of white-hot panic.

Three days before A killed herself, L had caught Robin alone in the library. He had pulled her aside, eyes and expression dull but voice grave.

"Stay away from B, he's trouble" L had warned.

Robin had shook it off and left the library immediately without even taking her stack of books. Surely, L didn't know what he was talking about. Everyone thought B was weird, what did L know? Robin was the only one aside from A that had dared to get close to B, so how could L come to such a conclusion? L was always right; but this time he was wrong, wrong, wrong.

Or… Was he?


	6. Chapter 6

"And how did the case go, if I may ask?" B asked conversationally as the two of them made their way to the site of the third crime scene.

Robin told B that she was called in to consult a small case over the weekend, to escape his plans for the two of them, and of course he had know way of knowing it was a lie. "Oh, I'm afraid I can't share my findings with you, but it was a lovely little break from this case" Robin said. _I almost feel guilty for lying to him, but… I just couldn't stand to be around him alone. Even now… I feel so uneasy, _She thought.

B's fingertips brushed her palm and Robin flinched so abruptly that she almost ran into a fire hydrant. "Calm down, Robin. You seem just as jumpy as the last time I saw you" B said, deliberately slipping his hand into hers. "We always held hands at the institution, am I now so offensive to you?" he asked her.

An apprehensive feeling settled in her gut, "I apologize. I don't mind it in the slightest, I suppose it's just my lack of sleep lately that's made me so shaky" Robin stated, internally surprised by her own words. _Why am I so afraid to tell him the truth? I'm not comfortable with him at all, and something about being so close is making it worse. But, why all of the sudden… Ever since that dream, I can't shake this feeling…_

"Here already" B said, breaking Robin out of her thoughts as he pulled her inside of the townhouse's door. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Misora" B said as soon as they stepped through the door.

Misora stepped out of an open doorway and into the foyer, "Don't worry, I wasn't waiting, I started without you" she said, in the most sarcastic way possible.

Robin found her agitation lifting at the presence of the other woman and, as Misora glanced down at their clasped hands questionably, Robin dropped B's hand and strode into the room Misora had left. No doubt the room where the body had been found, but Robin recoiled at the sight. "What did the killer do to that tub?" Robin asked rhetorically, resting her back against the wall opposing the bathroom door.

"The killer chopped off the victim's right leg and placed it in that bathtub" B stated, thumb in his mouth. On instinct, Robin found herself surveying his face for emotional tics. _Interest, amusement-_Robin stopped, looking away from B hurriedly as she wondered about the connotations of her observations.

"He also took the left arm as well" Misora stated, and Robin dropped her thought before it began.

"What?" Robin questioned, walking closer to the woman as she retrieved a picture from her bag.

"The killer," Misora said, handing Robin the photo of the body. "He cut off both the right leg and the left arm at the root, but it's been assumed that he took the arm with him, since only the leg was found"

Robin felt her blood run cold, a familiar nagging feeling settling in the back of her head; a thought waiting to break free. "Took the arm with him…" Robin stated aloud, trailing off. _The way the killer cut off the limbs, just like the injuries with the other victims, there's no anger involved. He was so controlled, he knew exactly what he was doing. It's so unusual…_

"May I suggest we move to the room where the body was found?" B asked, Robin jolting back to the present at the sound of his voice.

"I've been through the room already, so I'm afraid there isn't much to find-"

"I have to go" Robin stated, shoving the photo back into Misora's hands. "I have an appointment that I neglected, you two will be fine without me. I apologize for my hasty departure" she said, ignoring the odd look she received from Misora as she backtracked down the hall.

Robin nearly ran into him, forgetting that B was in her path. "So soon, Robin? Surely, whatever it is, you can reschedule"

Robin fought off the panic, both hands gripping her forearms to stop the desperate shaking. "I'm afraid it can't," Robin stated, shouldering past him and making it out through the door. Once outside she took several deep breaths, unaware of how stifling the air in the townhouse was until she was out of it.

_Something… Something isn't right…_

That night, like most nights, Robin couldn't sleep. However, it wasn't because she had clinical insomnia, rather it was because of the nightmare. It wasn't rare that she would dream of A, after all, the dreams about A were the reason Robin kept all the lights on at night. But it _was_ strange that as soon as her head hit the pillow, Robin replayed a memory.

The night that A died had been quiet, a still relaxed feeling had swept over the house since the midterms and project presentations for the semester were over as of that day. Robin was reading in the room that her and A shared, although A was hardly in the room at all since she practically lived in the library. It was Robin's excitement at seeing her friend that made her leap up from the bed when A finally entered at six PM.

"Where have you been" Robin was unable to ask questions back then, so the words came out in an even monotone. "I thought surely today would be the one day you would put off studying" she finished.

A was distant, not bothering to give Robin her usual small smile. "I wasn't studying" A said, her voice cracking and thin as if she was about to cry. A cried a lot, but it seemed harmless; a way to release the stress.

Robin wasn't sure what to say, so A passed by her silently like a waif caught in the breeze before throwing herself into the desk chair. She didn't move to open a book, but simply sat slumped in her seat motionless and staring at the wall. "I think I'm going to go to the kitchen for a snack. Do you want anything" Robin asked monotonically. She waited five minutes, but A didn't give a response.

It was after lights-out, but Robin was adept at avoiding the hall monitors making the nightly rounds. She made it to the kitchen in no time, pleased to find no one there. Robin fixed herself a PB&J sandwich, sitting on the counter in the dark as she chewed thoughtfully. "A sure is acting strange" she mused aloud to herself before jumping at the sudden voice.

"Adeline" Robin turned to see B, the speaker of the name, standing in the doorway. He didn't flick on the light, knowing that a monitor could see it and get them in trouble.

Robin dropped her empty plate in the sink. "What are you talking about" she questioned.

B advanced further into the kitchen. "Adeline, her name is Adeline Terry" he said.

Robin was surprised, although her face didn't show it. "No one is supposed to tell anyone their name" she stated. _Something feels wrong…_

"What time is it?" B asked, ignoring her statement and walking past her to get some cereal from the cabinet.

"Eleven ten. Why?"

"I think you better go check on A"

She was bewildered as she walked up the stairs, tossing the apple in her hand back and forth between her fingers. _Why would A tell B her name? Why did B want me to check on her? Something… Feels wrong…_ Robin shook herself out of her thoughts as she came to her and A's door. "A, I picked up an apple from the kitchen for you" she said as she opened the door. Were she capable of it, Robin would have raised her eyebrows at the darkness of the room. "It's peculiar to sit in the dark so" Robin commented before flicking the light switch on.

Surprise was the first thing to cross her mind, followed by fear and pain as she stared at the corpse swinging from the fan, a leather belt around her neck. A had always been so pretty, with her straight red hair and dusting of freckles and bright green eyes; now her face was a sick blue that contrasted her hair, her eyes dull and bulging in their sockets. Robin's stomach lurched as if she was going to be sick.

The array of emotions she felt didn't play across her placid face, but Robin found herself rooted to the ground in a typical symptom of shock. She heard footsteps at the end of the hall, a monitor making nightly rounds. Robin wanted to cry out, but found herself unable to do so as the woman approached her with flashlight in hand. "Young lady, what on earth are you doing standing in the hall after curfew?" the woman asked as she approached, ready to dole out a punishment. However, the words died on the monitor's lips as soon as she sees the figure swinging in the room beyond Robin.

The monitor shrieked so loud that Robin jumped, but the woman paid no heed as she shoved past the teenager into the room. "I brought her an apple" Robin muttered uselessly as the monitor quickly got A down from the fan, unbuckling the belt and tossing it on the floor.

"I can't find a pulse!" the monitor wailed, turning back to Robin. "Run, get help!" the woman ordered before giving A CPR. Robin hesitated before walking down the hall, her feet felt like lead. Her head swam with dizziness and she fought to keep her balance as she navigated the staircase directly to Mr. Whammy's office.

She knocked on the door tentatively, the old man that answered was groggy but immediately alert upon spotting the young girl at his door. "I brought her an apple" Robin stated calmly as her equilibrium began to fail. "I don't think she's going to eat it, though" Robin mumbled before fainting on the thick rug.

_Something feels wrong…_ Robin thought, laying in her bed in the hotel with all the lights on; to ward off the remnants of the memory that visited her in her dreams. _That night… How did B know? _Oddly, it was the first time the question had crossed her mind. Years too late to do anyone any good. That feeling she kept having throughout the entire case, the nagging in the back of her mind. It was getting stronger the more she thought of the question. _Had A told him she was going to do it? She told him her name… But then why, why keep me out of it? If B knew, why didn't he try to stop her? Why didn't he tell anyone? And the arm, if the killer took it with him…_

"I have too…" Robin trailed off as she leapt up from the bed, the minute her feet touched the floor she rethought her plan. "No. I'm being stupid. It was just a dream, I even asked B and he said there was nothing in his room" _No, he never answered your question. He skirted around it. _Her thoughts shot back. "No… It's… completely illogical" _B was always there when A got upset, B never tried to comfort her, B always told her what L said-A never heard it directly, B convinced A to kill her cat, B convinced A to kill herse… _Robin stopped the thought immediately. "No…"

Her steps took on a new conviction; Robin didn't even bother with shoes, or changing out of her Pjs, or combing her messy bed head, before she stepped out of her room. _This is stupid, what are you going to do? Break in? _One part of her asked. _If I could just get a look, just to make sure I'm wrong, then…_ The other part of her trailed off as she reached B's door, unsure of what actions she would even take should she find... Well, should she find evidence.

Perhaps it was stupid, at the time, for Robin to look up lock picking techniques when she was bored one evening at whammy's long ago-but the skill was just now proving to be handy. She was a little rusty, never having used the skill for anything other than sneaking in to secret locked doors at the institution, but eventually the lock clicked and allowed her to push the door silently open.

Robin was suddenly thankful that, while B always tried to be like L, he could never get down the detective's sleeping patterns. She found herself shaking as she paused in the doorway, making sure the lump under the covers was letting out an even breathing pace before she tip-toed into the room.

The room was eerily similar to the way she'd pictured it in her dream; air fresheners, open window, and then _that smell_. Rotting. It made her want to gag, it was much stronger than in her dream, so it was hard to find out where the source was coming from. The semi-darkness was easy to manage since the full moon and street lights sent a light glow from outside, but it still made her uneasy not to have proper lighting. Robin tried to be quiet as she slunk about the room, but B appeared to be a heavy sleeper anyway.

After a few minutes of searching, Robin concluded the smell was definitely coming from the bathroom. Robin opened the door cautiously, wincing and whipping her gaze to B when it gave out a slight creak. When B twitched in his sleep but didn't get up, Robin crept further into the bathroom and shut the door behind her; careful to do it silently this time.

The darkness was worse in the bathroom, since it didn't have a window for the moonlight to spill through, and against her better judgment Robin flipped on the light switch. Everything was a pristine white except for the dark blue shower curtain hiding the tub from view. There was a quiet buzzing along with the smell strongly wafting from the tub; it made her stomach twist into nervous knots. Before she could loose her nerve, Robin slid the curtain back with a quick jerk.

She gagged at the sight, covering her nose and mouth as her eyes took it all in. A left arm, displaying several days worth of decomposing; was sitting among a pile of ice, blood, and maggots. Even if it wasn't Backyard's arm, it still confirmed L's suspicions that B was a murderer. As much as she wanted to prove B innocent, Robin now knew it was true. _I never wanted to believe it. But this… This means that B-_ Robin stopped her thought as a voice cut through the air.

"I see you've finally figured it out" B said, his voice different from the one he normally addressed her with. _Delighted, manic, unpredictable._

Robin was about to turn around to face him, when the room suddenly went dark. He'd flipped the switch. The darkness only further attributed to the panic coursing through her body, she was shaking again and already feeling dizzy. If B tried to attack her now, there was no way she would be able to fight back.

A hand lurched at her in the darkness and Robin scrambled away from it before it had the chance to grab onto her oversized t-shirt. "D-don't touch me" Robin stuttered in spite of herself, her voice shaking along with her body now.

"Hehh, hehhh, hehhhh" B's laugh echoed and sounded so close it almost seemed like it was in her ear. "Oh, Ruby, I've never seen you so terrified before" B stated and her heart nearly stopped at the mention of her real name. _Even I can only barely remember it, but how can he… how does he know?_

She fought to put her thoughts in some sort of focus, to come up with a plan for escape. _You were never good at plans, _Her thoughts reminded her uselessly. "The USA has 76% of the world's serial killers" Robin blurted, wanting to slap herself. _That was not helpful at all. _She thought as she gritted her teeth and fought for control of her body.

B laughed again. "Try to get a grip, would you? You're going to faint at this rate, and who knows what I could do to you then" he stated darkly, Robin could just barely hear the movement of his clothes over her own sharp breathing as he crept closer to her. "You know, I thought you might figure it out sooner, but I guess being at the institution didn't exactly mean you had to be a good detective"

"P-p-please B, don't do this. I-I can get you h-help" she stuttered, jumping when B's laugh bounced around in the room.

"No one can help me, just like no one can help you" and he lunged at her.

In her haste to scramble away from him, Robin slipped on the floor and her head came crashing down mercilessly on the lip of the bathtub. Everything went black as the impact immediately knocked her unconscious.


	7. Chapter 7

Robin woke up feeling like her skull was stuffed with cotton, all her senses felt dull and her surroundings were fuzzy until she blinked them into focus. Aside from a distant throbbing at the back of her head, she couldn't feel any significant pain. It took her a few seconds to remember what had happened, but as soon as she did Robin bolted upright-or, at least tried to. Each of her limbs were tied to a separate bedpost with what looked like the hotel's ripped sheets.

"Mffm, Mmh" she tried to say, but stopped when she realized that there was a gag in her mouth; made from another sheet. She tried not to think of germs. Instead of wasting further energy on trying to talk, Robin willed herself to look at her surroundings; it was still B's hotel room although the curtains had been pulled closed so she assumed it was no longer night. B was no where within her line of sight, so Robin struggled with her restraints as best as she could, but it proved futile. She couldn't even get the tightly-tied gag out of her mouth.

It was hard to stop herself from panicking, but it was that very instinct that had let her become captured, so she mustered up enough determination to push it away. _What do I do now? Theirs no way I can escape, even if B is gone. Maybe theirs some way that I could get a message to someone..._ Robin looked toward the phone near her on the nightstand, but realized with dismay that the cord had been ripped from the wall. _Their's no way I can do anything, I'm helpless. B has me right where he wants me, he could do anything he wanted and I-I wouldn't be able t-to- _She stopped the thought firmly before it led to more alarm; there was no point in thinking about what B could do when he wasn't even present at the moment.

_Alive, focus on staying alive. You have to get out of this. _She told herself firmly. _Now, use your training; what is B's motive? L. To best L. How are the murders accomplishing this? A case, a case L cannot solve. But then-why is B helping Misora get answers? L already suspects B is behind this, the only thing B is accomplishing is getting L closer to finding him out as the killer… It doesn't make any sense…_ Robin thought with frustration before shaking her head.

_No, don't focus on that detective stuff, focus on what you know. If you find something, you may be able to sue it against him. B displays manipulative behavior very similar to that of a sociopath-_ Robin stopped, swallowing hard. _Manipulative… If he lied to A, and… How many times has he lied to me? Were we… Were we ever really friends? _The thought almost made her break down, and left her shuddering on the bed with fear and disgust. _How could I be so stupid, to be used by him like this? _Her heart ached.

It was that exact moment that B returned through the room's front door with a loud slam. "Oh, finally awake, Ruby?" he asked, his too-wide smile on his face.

"Mff nrrf mm nmm" Robin shot back, wishing she could glare at him to achieve some sort of false superiority and stop her nervous shaking.

B made a tutting sound with his tongue. "Silly girl, I can't understand a word you're saying" B stated, followed by a shrill laugh before setting the brown paper bag he was carrying down on the nightstand and sitting on the bed beside her.

The fact that he was sitting so close to her suddenly reminded her that she was tied to a _bed_, and childhood friend or not, B was a _man_. It was enough to set off a bought of panic inside her; Robin thrashed on the bed, but the restraints didn't loosen in the slightest. _Please, don't let him do that! Please, if there is a god-_

"I can't tell you how long I've waited to call you by your real name, Ruby" B said with a dark chuckle as he watched her struggle. "Ruby, Ruby, Ruby, it has such a nice ring to it. Ruby Settler" B continued, ignoring Robin's thrashing until she tired herself out and flopped uselessly onto the bed. Every part of her wanted to break out into defeated tears.

He grinned as she finally became immobile. "Now, I know that even your therapy hasn't made you able to scream, but I figured the gag was a nice touch anyway" B stated absently, leaning over her and dragging his pointer finger down her unguarded cheek. "That disability of yours, so interesting. It makes it so hard to get even a little reaction out of you… Except when you're terrified that is. I have to admit, I like that emotion the best anyway" B paused, lifting his hand from her cheek as her eyes followed it's movement. "Ah, but I digress. My point is, I'm going to remove the gag now. I'm sure you're just dying for a chat" he finished, ripping the cloth away so harshly that it jerked her head painfully to the side.

Robin was suddenly aware of the thick red coloring the pillow. "Blood. Am I… Bleeding?" Robin asked, all other questions evaporating from her mind as she, once again, quelled her rising panic.

"Only thinking about yourself, I'm hurt" B stated mockingly, observing her face carefully. "And it's _bled. _As in, your head _bled_ when you bashed it against the tub. Past tense, no longer happening" B said with another strange chuckle.

Robin stared at him, the B that was before her now was so different than the one she seemed to know. "How long have you been lying? Hiding away this… This personality?" Robin questioned.

B rolled his eyes back in mock thought, putting his thumb to his lips as a parody of the detective; that now seemed so much darker than it usually was. "Hmm, I would have to say… Since our institution training began. Whatever I showed you and everyone else was simply one-tenth of how I truly felt, I thought it was better to hide myself" he said.

_One-tenth? The boy that I knew, that was my friend… He never really existed, did he? _"You killed A" Robin stated, her stomach twisting as B grinned.

"Yes" B said simply, eyes laughing at her.

Robin swallowed hard. "Why?"

"Adeline was in _my_ spot. If anyone came second-best to L, it would be me. Besides, I'm stronger than she ever was. Adeline was far too easy to break." B sighed, waving a hand as if the topic bored him. "That's all in the past now, I may be second to L as a detective, but I'm about to defeat L as the world's best criminal" B stated, grinning at the fact that Robin was now shaking.

"I…" Robin began but trailed off. "Why this way?"

"You know what L did to us was wrong, he forced us to live in his image; It's that, more than my prodding that killed Adeline. I'm simply telling him that he can't always win."

_Scapegoat. Sociopaths never blame themselves. _"No" Robin stated coldly. "No, you forced _yourself _to live in his image; just like you forced A to kill herself. None of this was ever L's fault, was it? Everything you told me… Everything was a lie. You poisoned me and A against him because we were the only people you could touch. None of us were ever told to be his copy, none of us were encouraged to do be exactly like-" B cut her off with a sharp slap that made blood pool in the side of her mouth, she could already feel her lip well up into a bruise.

"I thought you were smarter than this, R. Smart enough to not be _used _by him" B spoke with a serious gaze, his wild eyes more terrifying now that they held no amusement. The use of her letter, instead of her real name, gave her another shudder.

_He's stopped toying with me… If he gets bored with me, will he…? _Robin thought, shaking harder at the possibility of her death by B's hands. _No, if I use my training… If I can get to him somehow, convince him I'm still useful, then their's no way he would… Right? _It was a faint plan, but it was all she had. _I need to test the waters, create a profile so I can use it against him… Just like work, except if I fail this time, it will be my life… I can't die here._

"You're the one that used me. You lied to me, didn't you?" Robin asked before pausing, hoping her words would work. "I just don't understand why. You were my friend, B" _Empathy, does this B have any at all?_

He gave her a sneer. "I lied to Adeline, but everything I gave you were omissions; I simply let you fill in the blanks yourself. I foolishly believed that you could see the truth behind L. The 'why' is revenge, and if you cannot understand that, then my expectations of you are far too high" B said before reaching to her face, smearing the blood at her lips before pulling away again. "You were my favorite plaything, but never my friend-that word implies trust, but even so it seems I have trusted you far too much despite that"

_No empathy. Another sign of sociopathic behavior. _"I can certainly see how much you trust me, being attacked and restrained by you after all" Robin said, the dry bite creeping into her words even though it contradicted her plan. _No, no, you have to keep his focus-you have to get inside his head. If you don't… B could kill you right here. Keep his interest, play on his team. He wants attention, he wants Whammy's to know it was him. _Robin closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and expressing a frown. "I just… Why kill those people?"

B laughed openly at her. "They were going to die anyway, I simply used their deaths for a better purpose"

_No remorse, shame, or guilt. He has to be a sociopath. No doubt other problems under that, but… What's the best way to handle him? _"I can understand why you're doing this, B" Robin stated, making sure her voice was firm although her body was still shaking on the bed. To her relief, B was at least looking interested by her words. "Testing your reflexes, stealth, and wit to let you hunt the most dangerous game… Humans. But you have to understand that this will come with consequences. I don't want you to get hurt, B" It was the truth. "If you stop now…" She trailed off, unsure of what the most comforting outcome would be for him to hear.

B was grinning, shaking his head from side to side and making that tutting noise again. "You can't manipulate a manipulator, dear Ruby. But I do applaud you for trying, as transparent as it was. Despite how smart you are, you can't fix me. This has already started, and I plan to finish it"

_I failed. _Robin could feel a wave of panic coming on but pushed it down with desperation. "What are you going to do to me?" she made herself ask, even though she was terrified of his answer.

His fingertips lightly grazed her neck before he wrapped his whole hand around it, squeezing lightly as she swallowed hard to keep the anxiety from welling up. "So fragile… I could break your neck right here" B stated, grinning and breathing heavily; bloodlust rising in his features.

_Don't panic. Don't panic. _Robin told herself, shutting her eyes tightly as she tried to retain an outward calm._ He likes fear; if you show it, he could lose it. _The tension was so unbearable that she could feel herself breaking, the hysteria bubbling up inside of her. Just when she was about to give in to the voice that was repeating _Fight him, run, get away! _B was suddenly across the room and as far away from her as he could get. Robin let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding.

"No, no, no," He muttered to himself, clenching and unclenching his hands as he stared at her on the bed. "I have plans for you, Ruby Settler" B said with a sneer, and then he was gone.

It was agonizing to know that the relief she felt was only temporary, that sooner or later B would be back for her. "Please, someone help me" she croaked out in a whisper, knowing no one could hear her.

In the foreboding silence of the room, finally, she gave into the powerful emotions that had been wracking her brain. Robin's sheer overload of emotions stopped herself from processing her reaction, for once in her life, she simply let the feelings pour out from her. It came out in violent thrashing against her bonds, sobs that made her lungs ache and eyes burn; but none of it did anything to get her closer to escape, and she couldn't help but cry harder as the helplessness of her situation sank in.

"Someone, please…" She whispered again, "Someone save me"

At B's insistence, Whammy had decided the four of them were to decorate the tree. A great bonding experience, B suggested. That was enough to lead Whammy to believe that perhaps, for once, there wouldn't be any punches. Oh, but in a house full of geniuses, there was much more than a physical war-there was a mental one. And B held the best tactics.

How B had known that Christmas day was when L's parents were killed wasn't a mystery; the obituary was easy to find since he could read the real names floating over the picture-couple's heads. It was the perfect chance he was searching for, a chance to taunt L. If he proceeded correctly, it was also another chance to tweak with Adeline's fragile little buttons.

"How did Mrs. Lawliet do it? Was there popcorn strung around the tree?" B asked, voice barely above a whisper as he passed L on his way to hand Robin an ornament.

There was a certain satisfaction in the way L froze; in the way B could feel the bewildered, impassive eyes burning into his back. It made B let out a sick grin, face carefully held away from the others should they see his twisted side. _Have I got your attention now, L?_

"What was on top?" B asked, passing by to place a candy-cane on the tree, voice still so quiet-but the malice in it was screaming. "An angel or a star?"

A poke here, a prod there, and L would snap. Lash out. "What would they think of Robin if you brought her home?" B asked, eyes flashing with glee as he realized the question would be the last wrench to throw in L's gears.

"You all are good for nothing" L stated, loud enough for the others to hear as he glared at B.

_Good for nothing? I figured out your secret, I figured out your name and your parents, everything I'm not supposed to know-and still you think I'm useless? _B thought bitterly, feeling the white-hot rage building up inside of him. His hidden side was quickly rising to the surface, the urge to make L bleed was too tempting. B wanted to grab a fistful of L's disorderly hair and bash his skull over and over into the hard wooden floorboards, but that would mean L couldn't admit defeat.

B tried to stop himself, honestly he did, but the bloodlust was impossible to force down again. _Just a quick little smack…_

"Backup"

And B launched himself at him, toppling him to the ground and landing a solid punch to his nose. Blood sprouted, a bright red already pooling to stain L's crisp white shirt. B grinned, his other fist pulling back to give L another taste of pain.

"What are you doing! You can't hurt him!"

_I can't… _With a shock, B felt his twisted side slide back into the corner of his mind. _No, I can't. Not yet._

Hands were suddenly shoving him, his body roughly fell to the floor as Adeline crouched over L.

"Alternate"

B could barely hold back his laughter when he caught sight of her expression.

**A/N: Things are finally getting interesting! Sorry for all the talking in this chapter, but a lot of things needed to be explained and dealt with. Anyway, thanks for reading guys! -Luv, Cart**


	8. Chapter 8

He needed to feel it, the alley was far too open for it to be safe-too close to the hotel as well, but B _needed_ it. The feeling of the blood sliding along his fingertips and the still-warm organs brushing against his hands made it settle-but it was still nothing compared to a real human body, to a real terrified victim.

"I wonder what Ruby's heart will feel like still beating," B mumbled, shuddering from the thought before he remembered he was supposed to be pushing that away. _It's not time, it's not time for her yet. Still more time, but the seconds are ticking by. Patience, patience. _He thought, re-focusing on the small corpse before him before removing his hands from it's insides and standing up.

He nudged the cat with his foot, partially hiding the body under a wooden crate before splaying some newspaper over the bloody parts. _Suppose a child finds it, thinks it's still alive, tries to take it home, calls for it before reaching out to move it-and then… _B chuckled aloud at the thought before using more spare newspaper to wipe most of the gory mess from his hands. "Can never get it out from under the fingernails" B commented before turning his back on the cat, preparing to return to Robin now that his thirst was quenched for the moment.

Robin laid exhausted on the bed, feeling humiliated by the tears staining her face; B could come back at any minute and see the evidence of the reaction he'd gotten from her. _Then where would I be? Would he gloat about it, or would it bore him? Even if it keeps his interest… I failed. He saw my tactic. There isn't much left I can do now, except look for ways to escape before he-surely he wouldn't… He can't plan to kill me? No, don't think about that. _She thought, tugging on her bonds again and sighing when they wouldn't budge. _I can't even wipe the tears off my face…_

"Honey, I'm home" B said, followed by one of his strange chuckles, as he suddenly opened the door. A twisted smile held his face as he approached her, slamming the door behind himself. "What's this?" he questioned upon seeing her tear-stained cheeks and red-rimmed eyes. Robin gritted her teeth, trying to prepare for whatever B's unpredictable reaction would be.

He jolted towards her, immediately reaching out a hand to touch her face. The silence, combined with the blank expression on his face, was like torture to Robin as she awaited his reception of her state. A sudden dark, guttural sound wedged itself from B's throat; hearty laughter. "Ironic, isn't it?" B asked rhetorically, "I spent all that time at Whammy's prodding you-pushing your buttons like I did A's-and I receive not a single response. I scrutinized your every movement, blink, every word you spoke… And when you finally crack…" B said, his hand tightly clutching her face now; nails digging into the vulnerable skin of her cheek. "I didn't get to see it" B finishes.

His eyes are manic, wide, and seem to flash a strange reddish hue as he stares at her. Robin can feel herself shuddering again, her body too full of fear to panic, and she lies helplessly frozen on the bed as B crawls over her; sitting on her chest and constricting the oxygen to her already dizzy body. _No, no he can't… He wouldn't… _"Please" she wheezed, head swimming. "I can't breathe, please"

B's only response was another chuckle that sent a chill down her spine, he didn't move from his position. "What did it take to get you to cry, dear Ruby?" B asked, Robin looking at the hunting knife in panic as he took it from the bedside drawer. "Was it because you were finally faced with the possibility of your death? Or… Was it because you know how easily I can cause it?" he asked, dragging the blade along the skin of her inner arm; not deep enough to draw blood, but enough to raise the skin in a light scar.

"B," she said, desperately gasping to get more air into her lungs. "You don't have to do this, it's-" Robin cut herself off as she flinched in pain. B had sliced her shoulder, no more than a paper cut would be, but it stung and throbbed painfully-already leaking blood.

"I know, it was hopelessness," B stated, grin growing as he observed the tiny river of red dripping onto the bed sheets. "You realized just how alone you are in this endeavor" B stated, running the blade lightly along her skin again before stopping at her collar bone. "You realized no one is coming to save you" B continued, cocking his head to one side as he appraised the oversized T-shirt Robin was clothed in. "Not the police, not L, not his pawn Misora… No one's coming to rescue the princess" B muttered, shifting his body so that he was sitting on her stomach now; the knife resting on the hem of her shirt.

Robin took a deep breath, now that she could get air, "You're wrong" she stated simply, gulping when B sharply tilted his head to look up at her. "You won't kill me. I'm your best friend. You can't" she said, a desperation creeping through her eyes. "No one has to save me, because you can't do it. Even if you don't want to admit it; I'm all you have. You don't want to loose me" Robin said, heart thundering in her chest as she swallowed hard before finishing her last-ditch effort. "I don't care if you were lying to me. You can't fake friendship, B. Some part of you knows that. Some part of you loves me."

He stared, not at her, but at the space above her head. "No," B stated, brows furrowing in confusion. "The numbers-they're rising… NO!" he finished in a shout, eyes wild and catching that red hue again. "HOW? HOW ARE THEY RISING?" B howled, sitting up and glaring at that space in the air. One hand gripped his head, weaving painfully into his hair and clutching the roots with a fever. "No, impossible, no, no, no-the plan is ruined…" B muttered, just barely above a whisper as he shrank back into himself before suddenly lashing out. He hacked and slashed at the space above Robin's head , leaving deep gashes in the bed's headboard.

_It's some kind of psychotic break. How the hell do I… What do I do in a situation like this? _Robin thought, clenching her eyes shut tightly as she trembled under B on the bed. _If I interrupt him in anyway, he could turn on me. I just have to wait the episode out, I still don't know if what I said worked-if I reached him, or if I did just the opposite…_

B stopped his manic movements, heaving breaths from the exertion and still staring at that space before his eyes suddenly flicked downwards to lock with hers. "How did you do it?" B asked, obviously wanting a response to his strange question.

Robin gulped, thoughts racing as she tried to figure out what was the right thing to say. "Three in five people would sooner submit to a knife than a gun" she shot out, squeezing her eyes closed in regret immediately after. _Of all times, now I-_

The sharp slap turned Robin's head sharply to one side, she nearly choked on the metallic taste of her own blood; the bruise on her lip from the earlier slap had clashed against her teeth and broken open. Her lip was split, red running down her chin and neck. "Tell me!" B demanded, his expression so serious that it only made Robin tremble harder.

"2/3 of assaults are committed by people that know the victim" Robin blurts before she can think; a punch leaves her jaw aching and her head spinning. Blood splatter is all around her, she has to blink away the red dripping in her eyes. "37,830 offences a year involve knives" she spouts, her nervousness overtaking her words.

B's dark eyes bore into her, "I can't kill you, but that doesn't mean I cant make you into a bloody pulp" he mutters, "I'll scar up your face, until it's just a hunk of raw flesh. I'll destroy your body until you don't resemble a human anymore" Robin's heart raced at the words, beating so loudly and rapidly that she thought it just might leap out of her chest; pure fear cycled through her veins. "Tell me" B said with a dangerous finality.

"I don't know what you want" she finally managed to choke out, blood trickling down the back of her throat and overflowing from her lips as she spoke.

He sneered at her, "You know better than to lie" B stated coldly, the knife in his hand once again traveling to the hem of her shirt. "It's a shame your pretty little body will never look the same" he said, lifting the blade in one swift motion and exposing her bare chest and tight black sleeping shorts. "How cute" a twisted chuckled followed his words as he slowly dragged the knife from her navel to her sternum; without enough pressure to do any damage.

"No, don't-" with a shock Robin realized she was crying, tears falling silently down her cheeks and mixing with her blood. She could feel her head spinning; the dizzying feeling of being emotionally exhausted overtaking her as she was overloaded with white-hot fear, pain and embarrassment at being exposed. _No, _Robin thought, _I can't faint. Not here, not now. If I did, who knows what B could do… _"Please stop" she managed to say, attempting to sound firm, but it came out as a quiet whisper.

B was grinning, his face inches from hers as his eyes darted around her features to memorize her entire defeated expression. When Robin tightly squeezed her eyes shut against his scrutiny, he finally spoke. "You never were as strong as you appeared to be, were you?" B asked mockingly before his voice suddenly became harsh. "Look at me when I'm talking to you!" The cold metal of the knife dug sharply into the skin on the bone of her collarbone, and her eyes snapped open obediently.

"I made a mistake in taking interest with you. Your defects are merely hiding a scared little girl," B said with a sneer, eyes racking over her body with something akin to boredom. "And while testing your reactions was an entertaining diversion, it's time for me to put my final chess piece into play" he stated, getting up from the bed casually-as if he hadn't just been holding a knife to her.

Robin watched in silence as B wiped off the hunting knife, placing it back in the drawer before crossing the room towards the bathroom. After changing into a clean white shirt and otherwise making sure his appearance was presentable, B paused at the door. "I'll be back soon, R" he stated, the eyes that looked at her were once again cold.

With that, he was gone. Leaving her sniffling, covered in blood, and shivering from the cold air on her uncovered body.

"It must be her" Misora said, pausing as she looked at B. "…Is something wrong, Ryuzaki? We've finally figured out what the killer is going to do, and we can get ahead of him! We can lay a trap for him. Prevent the forth murder, and if we're lucky, catch the killer as well. Nah-No luck about it, We will catch him; and catch him alive"

B smirked internally at her impassioned speech. "Misora, the thing is, there's another candidate in the condo; another B.B. Blues-harp Babysplit, who lives alone in room 404"

"Oh…" she stated, her disappointment clearly marked on her face, and B watched as the gears turned in her head. "But, no matter how you look at it, room 1313 has to be our target. Thirteen is a code for B, and 1313 is B.B. I mean, what better location could a killer ask for?"

"I suppose…" B trailed off, baiting her and frowning when a revelation didn't come to the woman. Dragging Misora to these types of conclusions had become tiring. "If it was any other room number than 404 I would agree with you one hundred percent, but I think you're forgetting that 404 gives us three fours and three nines. That's the exact number of days between the murders… We can't just ignore that"

Misora's face scrunched in concentration before she finally spoke, "I agree…" she stated hesitantly.

"We'll just have to split up," B said casually, mouth arching in a grin he knew she hated, "Fortunately we have each other, Misora"

She cringed, "And Robin as well… Where has she been, anyway?"

B frowned, "She said that she needed to remove herself from this investigation in order to make preparations for a project she was undertaking" he stated simply, too busy mentally picturing the future plan with amusement, to notice Misora's eyes narrow suspiciously.

**A/N: short chapter that skips around a bunch, but the next one will be _intense_. I promise. Oh, and thanks for all the reviews, bros. I love how concerned for Robin you guys get. It's kinda awesome. -luv, Cart**


	9. Chapter 9

Robin had fallen asleep on the bed, but was rudely awoken by spindly fingers yanking her arms behind her. "Wha- What's going on?" she muttered sleepily, handcuffs clicking shut around her wrists.

"Shh, if you disobey I'll slit your throat" B said, the cool metal of a knife pressing against her neck.

She willed herself alert at the thought of the weapon on her skin again; Robin was unbound except for her recently cuffed hands, but still sprawled out on the hotel's bed with B crouching beside her. Somehow he'd snuck her into a sweater as she slept, because there was no longer the feeling of cold air on her chest; a icy zipper in its place instead.

Without a thought process behind it, Robin drew her freed legs back quickly and kicked B as hard as she could in the stomach. His momentary shock at the pain it caused made him to drop his knife, and Robin rolled off the bed; up and running just as B recovered and started after her.

She made it to the door, but was immediately filled with a rush of panic when she saw it was locked. _You've come this far, focus. don't panic._ Robin thought, fighting to keep her breath even to calm her pounding heart as she turned around quickly. I was maddening to watch B advancing on her as her fingers hastily fumbled over the metal lock.

"Even if you escape, I'll find you" B said darkly, mere inches from her as she turned the door knob. With a sharp gasp of pain, Robin fell to the hall's floor on her back. As B grappled with her kicking legs, Robin rolled and used the wall to help herself into a standing position. "If you escape, it will be worse" B assured, voice so menacing that Robin could swear his breath was on the back of her neck.

She sprinted down the hall without pause, but faltered at the stair landing as she tripped; sending her crashing painfully down the first flight of stairs and bashing into the railing of the second flight. Robin's head spin and her ribs ached painfully, but she was determined to push it down and keep going. She barely managed to get upright again as B reached the first stair.

Robin raced down the last flight of stairs as carefully as she could without sacrificing valuable time, ignoring the fresh blood now dripping down her lip from her re-opened wound and the fierce burning pain in her ribs from her tumble down the stairs. The lobby was eerily empty when she reached it, and with a sudden shock Robin realized she should have made as much noise as possible while running. _If I'd knocked on the other room's doors, I might have woken someone up and then-No, focus. _She told herself sternly, heading straight for the back room behind the front desk; where she knew at least one person was that could help her.

B came out of nowhere, his fist connecting sharply with her jaw and sending her smashing against the side of the hard oak desk. Robin crumpled into a heap like a rag doll, blood was dripping down the back of her neck; the back of her skull had bashed against the sharp lip of the desktop.

_It's hopeless now, _Robin thought forlornly as her vision clouded and her head blossomed with pain, _I tried to get away. He has me now. Theirs nothing I can do, no one I can reach… _Just as she was about to submit, give into B again and accept her helplessness; a chime rang out from the door. _Footsteps. People! _Robin's thoughts rang out joyously before they were replaced with more musings of pain.

He'd kicked her behind the desk, out of view as the people approached. _no, no, this is my only chance. I have to- _Robin's thoughts were interrupted as she tried to crawl away, but was blocked by two intimidating legs standing in front of the desk's cubbyhole. She was getting dizzy, her vision was swimming, and when she looked up at B her eyes showed her two identical men; only one stared back at her with blood red eyes. B smirked down at her before lifting a foot and pressing it against her throat. Robin knew what he meant and went limp under the threatening pressure as she resignedly listened for the voices of the strangers.

"Hi, we're here to get a room please" It was a woman. She sounded young, happy.

_Look at the side of the desk, their's blood. _Robin willed the woman to notice.

"We'd like the whichever one has the biggest bed" he must have pinched or prodded the woman as he said it, because she let out a nervous giggle.

_Do you have a cell phone? You don't even have to say anything about the blood, just call them. Please, do something! _Robin hoped.

Silence. Robin knew B must be giving them that too-wide smile of his. The one that unnerved people.

_Please, can't you tell something is wrong? _Robin pleaded internally, _can't you tell there's something wrong with him? _But she knew they couldn't. B was a manipulative sociopath that could make you think whatever he wanted you to. The only reason he ever appeared odd and strange to people is because he enjoyed making them squirm.

"I believe that would be room 13" B stated, pretending to rummage in the desk for a keycard but taking his own out of his pocket instead. "You kids enjoy yourselves," and he handed over the plastic card with ease.

_They'll find it. The arm in the bathroom. The police will be called in, and then L will take over once they know the arm belongs to Backyard. He'll find evidence of B keeping me there. My blood. _Robin's thoughts worked quickly. _This can still turn out alright, I just have to hold out long enough that-_

"At least you stayed quiet under here" B said, glaring at her as he bent over in a typical mock-L stance to retrieve her from behind the desk. "But the rest of that behavior, I'm going to have to punish you for" he was glaring at her, a grimace marring his features.

He yanked her up from the floor by harshly pulling the chain of her handcuffs, almost as if it was a suitcase handle. "Hold on, I can't…" Robin trailed off as her vision blurred again; her mouth tasted like copper, she felt dizzy enough to be sick. She wished she could feel how much blood was trickling down her neck. "I don't feel well" she muttered, there was no time to scold herself for the stupidity of the statement (of course she didn't feel well, she was bleeding all over for Christ sakes), as her feet suddenly disobeyed her and fell out from under her.

Robin's deadweight was suddenly directly held up by her shoulders, as B hadn't moved his hold on her cuffs with her crumpling body's movements, and a painful crack came from somewhere around her shoulder blade. It was all she could do to let out a whimper in recognition of the surprising burst of pain, since she was under B's control and could do nothing to counteract the strain. She nearly let out a sigh in relief as B hoisted her up into his arms, reducing the pain to a dull throbbing like her other injuries instead of an active agony.

It was strange how he nearly cradled her in his hold, letting her head rest against his chest in a display that would have been intimate in any other situation. He spoke no words as he carried her to the large van, and if Robin was fooled by his gentle actions, all semblance of kindness was gone when he threw her harshly into the stripped back of the van.

Robin's face collided with the metal car body brutally, her split lip stringing angrily in protest and sending a small spattering of blood around her. The rest of her bones landed with equal unpleasantness, her shoulder jarring painfully against the cold metal and sending a fresh shock of pain through her.

Even if the back was seat-less, it wasn't empty by any means. Tools and weapons were in crates, some even loose, along with scatted papers and a few pieces of clothing. B didn't strap her or the mess down as he started the engine and roared off; a sharp turn that sent her smashing into the side of the van told Robin the conditions of the back was probably the punishment that B'd spoken of.

She briefly considered trying to maneuver into a sitting position so that she might not tumble around so much during the ride, or so she could see out the tinted windows where they were headed; but since her legs were still reduced to jelly Robin was forced to move with whatever tossing and turns the van took.

The trip spattered her blood around the seat-less van's floor, often landing her painfully on her injuries or making more, and she was assaulted by the other shifting contents of the van more times than she could count. She might have even dozed off, because when B was yanking her to her feet again Robin hadn't remembered the terrible motions of the van stopping.

"You're a mess," B stated bluntly, a strange chuckle worming its way out of his mouth.

In a haze, Robin looked down and appraised herself. "Is all of that mine?" she questioned dizzily, her eyes drooping and producing two bloodied bodies instead of one real one.

She hung her head tiredly, watching as B grabbed a ratty blanket and wrapped it around her. "You're even shaking" B said, amused as Robin seemed to just now notice the fact.

_Am I dying? _she wondered as B once again lifted her easily into his arms, _have I lost too much blood? Will L make it here in time? No, it would be Misora wouldn't it? Misora, do you have time to save me? _Robin closed her eyes for what felt like seconds, but when she opened them again they were in a strange room.

B dumped her on the floor in a heap and got to work; he'd brought a bag inside with them. "B?" Robin asked dreamily as she watched B retrieve a wara ningyo and a can of gasoline from the large duffel. "Beyond, do you remember when we left Whammys?" he paused suddenly, slowly turning around to stare at her.

Cold hands were on her shoulders, shaking her, and Robin blinked her eyes open slowly. "B" she stated, even though she meant it as a question. Robin sat up in the bed before looking questionably at her surroundings, "What happened. Why am I in the infirmary" the young Robin asked, staring at B as he quickly turned to peek through the white curtains surrounding her bed.

"You fainted" B answered when he was satisfied there wasn't a Whammy kid or employee eavesdropping on them.

At his words, the memories came flooding back to Robin. "Is A alright. How long have I been in here, What time is it" she questioned rapidly, shoving back her sheets as she scrambled to get out of the bed.

"Hold on a minute" B ordered, holding her still with his hand on her forearm. "Are you still feeling dizzy? You've been in here for just a few hours"

Robin took a deep breath, calming her internal self to match the face of her constant external placidity. "I'm fine. What about A"

"She's dead" B bent over, opening the bed's curtain as quietly as he could. "I need to go now, I'll explain later. I've got to get out of here" he stated.

"What. We're… You were serious about leaving" Robin questioned, pushing back the thoughts of her dead roommate. "You can't leave me alone. I'm going with you"

He turned to her slowly, unable to hide the smile working over his face. "I suspected you would say that" B helped her out of bed carefully, her legs still a little shaky. "I'm already packed, let's go get your things. We'll have to be quiet, they might still be swarming around your room"

"Why. It was a suicide" Robin asked as B nudged open the infirmary door slowly, using a piece of a mirror to view down the hall and make sure none of the night monitors were roaming about near them.

"L doesn't think so"

Robin woke up, when had she fallen asleep? with B taking off her pants. "What?" she asked groggily, unable to get out any other words since her head was aching.

"You need to get a bath" B stated, and when he grinned up at her she saw him with two faces.

She struggled languidly, her limbs felt heavy as if she was moving through sand. "Don't, you can't" Robin fought to get her mouth to form the words she wanted. "Don't look" she managed to say, just now realizing she was topless.

Robin stopped fighting when she spotted the red smeared around her skin, shakily lifting a hand to touch her face instead of guarding the waistband of her underwear. "Is this all mine?" she questioned when her fingers came back from her lips coated in sticky blood.

B was smiling at her again. "You're such a mess" he had red eyes.

Her vision was swimming, there were two B's pulling down her underwear, "Am I dying, Beyond?" she asked distantly.

"No" he answered, and somehow she believed it wholeheartedly. "You're beautiful when you're a mess" he finished quietly.

There was an icy hand running down her side, it made her shiver. "I'm cold" Robin stated, her eyelids drooping. It was becoming too hard to keep them open, she just wanted to sleep again.

"The bath is warm," B said smoothly, lifting her off the cold white tile and into the tub.

Robin could barely keep her head above the water. "It's red, why is the water so red?" she asked slowly.

Her question went unanswered as a mouth pushed against hers; it was painful with her broken lip. It wasn't gentle, more animalistic than anything, and teeth caught her mouth without misgivings again and again. She couldn't breathe. Something was holding her hair. Something was pulling her under. She tried to open her eyes, but all she saw was red; it was swirling and darkening around her and making her choke on it.

_Am I dying?_

**NOT the last chapter! About one or two more to go, actually. -Luv, Cart**


	10. Chapter 10

"L?" Misora asked in surprise as she answered her cell phone. Sure, she'd spoken to L many times before; but it was a shock to see that he was the one calling her for once.

"I have urgent news" the detective spoke evenly and with measured tone, as if he was putting forth an effort to be level about the situation.

It made Misora gulp nervously, "Yes?" she asked.

"Robin Steele has just been confirmed as kidnapped-"

"Kidnapped? But I only saw her a few days ago, she was called away on a case" Misora floundered, hastily sitting in a large armchair with the weight of the news. "Why didn't you tell me sooner? I could have done something"

"you couldn't." L assured bluntly, as if he didn't have time to comfort her; unlike their previous conversation only a few minutes ago. "R is an unpredictable person at times, when her therapist reported her missed appointment, I assumed it had nothing to do with the case. The police recovered Backyard's missing arm in the bathtub of a hotel where we believe B was living for the time being. There was weapons and restraints there as well. We also found R's blood in the same room and in other areas of the hotel. It seems she put up a fight"

Misora's jaw dropped. Robin had indeed struck her as an odd, somewhat creepy person; but not one that deserved to die. Especially at the hands of a brutal serial killer. "How much blood? Are there any leads to her whereabouts?" she asked quickly.

"Not yet enough to be fatal. She may not be dead yet" L said, "I've called to tell you in order to make sure you catch B alive. If he's killed, R could die as well. Their's a 70% chance he's hidden her somewhere to bleed out" he explained.

She nodded, and then flushed when she realized L couldn't see her. "Yes, I will do my best…" she trailed off, brows furrowing as she realized it was strange for L to refer to the woman with a simple letter. _Letter? L, B… L admitted he knows this B; and now he's calling her R… _"L, do you… know Robin?" Misora spoke up out of curiosity.

The synthetic voice hesitated an unnaturally long time before answering, "Yes"

_He wasn't hesitant at all to tell me he knew B, but when it comes to Robin… why? _Misora wondered briefly before her thoughts were forced to a halt as L started speaking again.

"I personally do not mind telling you," he began, as if reading her very thoughts, "but I fear it isn't my place to do so. R might want to keep her secrets, so that is as far as I will discuss the matter. However, please keep it under as much discretion as you will about B" L said.

Misora nodded to no one again, "Y-yes, of course"

"Well, I will let you get back to work" L stated, and then the line went dead.

It was some time later that Misora's thoughts would lead her to a conclusion, but when they did, she jumped out of her chair with a shrieking realization. She barely remembered to grab her handcuffs and gun before racing from the room, but was thankful she did when she finally encountered the locked condo 404. The front door didn't kick down easily, so she was reduced to shooting the lock off before bursting inside.

The condo had three bedrooms, it was uncertain which room Ryuzaki was in, but Misora's mind was momentarily off the man as she nearly ran smack into an open bathroom door.

_Robin…! _Misora's thoughts shot out quickly as she hurried into the small tiled bathroom, _L was wrong; B didn't hide Robin, he'd used her as a distraction! _There was a large pool of blood on the floor, as well as smears and splashes in various places in the otherwise pristine white bathroom. Her heart nearly stopped beating when Misora spotted the bathtub; filled to the brim with bloody water, a head with red-stained blonde hair bobbing inside.

She knew now that Ryuzaki-that B-had planned it like this, because if anyone was quick enough to stop him, they would go for Robin first. Because she was innocent, she was a civilian; and she wasn't a murderer. As much as Misora wanted to catch B alive, it was no longer crucial now that she'd found Robin. The other woman's survival was more important than B's, at least to Misora.

Misora leapt toward the tub, harshly bashing her knees against the tiled floor in her haste, but she ignored the shock of the pain it created and plunged her hands into the tainted water instead. Her hands fumbled through the water in panic, but finally found the soft skin of a face.

"Robin!" Misora shrieked in hope as she lifted the woman from the water, but the blonde's face was still and silent. Misora yanked her body from the water, placing her on the floor as carefully as she could without sacrificing valuable time.

She immediately administered her trained CPR, performing the action for what felt like decades until a sudden shocked gasping rang out in the room; mingling with a sigh of relief from the FBI agent. Misora gently rolled Robin over so she wouldn't choke as she sputtered, coughing out water as well as swallowed blood.

Misora finally had the chance to take in the state of the other woman; Robin was covered with watery blood which largely made it impossible to tell where her injuries were, and the only clearly evident abuse was her split and torn lip. It was during her appraisal that Misora noticed with a blush that Robin was entirely nude, so she averted her eyes from the woman as she spoke, "Can you breathe? Do you need an ambulance?" Misora questioned, managing to retrieve a large towel from the bathroom's cabinets.

Robin felt as if she was dragged back from a long sleep, fatigue clinging to her very bones. It was difficult to recall what was going on, but at the sight of Misora's face the memories came flooding back to her. "You came, thank god. You found me" Robin croaked out, her lungs burning as she shivered on the floor under the fluffy towel.

Misora gently grabbed her face, forcing Robin to look at her. "Are you hurt?" she asked, announcing every syllable as clearly as possible as Robin's eyes drooped with murky exhaustion from her blood and oxygen loss.

"But it doesn't hurt so much anymore" Robin answered, half-lucid in her haze.

Misora frowned, battling with herself to decide if that was a yes or no; wondering if Robin wanted to 'keep her secrets' out of a hospital. She fingered her phone, but had no time to flip it open when she heard a noise behind her and turned. It was the woman she'd nearly run into on her way to 404.

"Is she alright?" the woman asked.

"FBI" Misora answered, not stopping to reconsider that she was on suspension and should not be referring to herself as such, "call the police, the fire department, and an ambulance" she ordered, and the woman slunk away without surprise.

Misora briefly wondered if the strange woman's nonchalance meant she was one of the agents L had sent to help her guard the condo, but pushed the thought away and rushed to the only room with a thumb turn lock. She wasted no time in trying to kick down the door, but shot off the lock instead; gasping as the door opened upon an inferno. There was no way B could have survived that.

In order to protect the rest of the condo from the flames, Misora shut the door as the sound of sirens approached.

_B's won, hasn't he?_ She questioned in her thoughts as she sank to the floor in a weary heap.

**Short chapter, I know, but the next chapter is the last one- Luv, Cart**


	11. Chapter 11

**Many weeks later…**

"I've been keeping an eye on it as it developed" L stated, finishing his briefing as he handed Robin the file on the Kira case. She carefully adjusted the oxygen tube in her nose, making sure it didn't fall out as she leaned forward to retrieve the file from his hand.

Robin shifted in the hospital bed, sitting up to read despite the strain it put on her newly repaired broken ribs. "Well, I do agree that it certainly seems interesting," Robin stated, opening the file and skimming the information L had already verbalized. "But I can't just up and go. I do have some… obligations, as you well know" she said, referring to her now heightened therapy.

"Strings can always be pulled. Besides, after what happened, you don't agree that a change of scenery might benefit you?" L enquired, a forkful of cake in his mouth as his eyes lingered on the stitches in her lip and her bruised face.

She squeezed her eyes shut, forcibly ejecting any thoughts of B. Robin would be lying if she said she didn't feel uneasy being in LA after what B did to her, even if he was more of a phantom now and less of a real threat to her. "I… I suppose I agree with you. Not only would it help to get some time away from here, but it could give me a chance to correct my mistake" Robin said stiffly, surveying her hospital bed sheets in favor of making eye contact with the detective.

L stopped eating, his fork hovering in the air. "Mistake?" he asked curiously.

"Yes, I…" Robin finds it difficult to say aloud, but presses on. "I need to re-evaluate you as a person. I believe I owe it to B to figure out the truth about you on my own, as I mistakenly identified you under his influence" she stated, thankful that she can't accidentally express her embarrassment in the situation.

L genuinely looks surprised, but quickly hides it as he resumes eating the strawberry shortcake. "Well then, we'll be leaving for the Winchester headquarters as soon as possible. I will go assist Watari with the paperwork, in the mean time please try to get some rest. We have a long trip ahead of us" he stated before getting up, leaving the empty plate on the hospital bed's table and crossing the room to the door; flipping off the lights as he exits.

"Wait," Robin suddenly speaks, making L look back at her expectantly with the door still open; letting in the light and sounds of the bustling hospital corridor. "Please leave the lights on" she said, and a flash of disquietedness crosses L's face before he hesitantly flicks the switch again.

"I am aware that your ordeal with B must have been harrowing, but if you aren't in a state to properly work, don't force yourself on the case" L stated.

Robin wanted to glower at him for his all-business demeanor, but instead another wave of exhaustion washes over her. "It's nothing" she assured before once again laying down, closing her eyes as soon as her head hits the pillow.

A few hesitant seconds of silence pass before the door clicks shut and L walks towards the nurse's station. "Ah, Jeremy, how is Robin holding up?" Watari greeted, flawlessly applying L's alias. The old man's hands are occupied with a clipboard and pen; papers and a file before him on the counter.

"She's getting some rest, but agreed that she would like to return home as soon as possible" L stated.

The nurse standing near Watari frowned, "I've said it before, but moving a woman in her condition is unadvisable. She just got over her pneumonia only a few days ago. Her injuries may be healed, but there's still months of therapy she needs to go through. It could be dangerous to take her away from here" the nurse said, with an inner anger she thankfully kept in check throughout her speech.

"Her doctors have spoken to her current therapist, he's worked with her before the incident, and they agreed a familiar consult would be better than the ones on staff here" L said.

Watari gave the nurse a polite smile, "I can assure you madam, Robin's care is of the utmost concern to us"

The nurse did not look convinced, throwing a pitying glace towards Robin's shut door. "I hope, for her sake, you're telling the truth" the woman said before taking Watari's finished paperwork and walking off to properly file it.

Robin's real patient file goes carefully tucked away in Watari's bag, and the two men head toward the lounge to make calls about travel arrangements. L considered waking Robin up then and there, she could get some sleep on the plane after all, but something makes him decide against it. Even if he has to wait in the lounge with the old magazines and bad TV for awhile longer.

**Sequel, ahoy! The sequel story will be entitled 'Fragaria' and follow Robin and L as they work on the Kira case together. I hope all, or some of you, will give it a try. And, thanks for reading & faving & reviewing The Catalyst! I'm so glad yall have enjoyed it. -Luv, Cart**


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